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DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF 

RECONSTRUCTION 

Political, Military, Social, 

Religious, Educational &f Industrial 

1865 to the Present Time 

BY 

WALTER L. FLEMING, Ph.D. 

PROFESSOR OF HISTORY IN WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY 

Wiih facsimiles 
VOLUME I 




Cleveland, Ohio 

The Arthur H. Clark Company 

1906 



c 



* P /r 



':^ 



UBBARYof CONCRFSS 
Two Copies Received 

OCT 2S 1906 



. ^pyrlrht Fp»ry 



CUSS ^' HO. 



COPYRIGHT, 1906, BY 

THE ARTHUR H. CLARK COMPANY 

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 



TO MY HISTORY TEACHERS 

George Petri e 

of Alabama 

AND 

William Archibald Dunning 

of New York 



PREFACE 

The purpose of this work is to make more easily acces- 
sible to the student and to the general reader some of 
the original sources relating to the Reconstruction per- 
iod. The documents reproduced will assist to an under- 
standing of the peculiar conditions — social, political and 
economic — that prevailed in the Southern states during 
the Reconstruction. The first volume consists of selec- 
tions illustrative of the condition of the South after the 
war, the problems to be solved and the attempts of the 
President and Congress to solve them, ending with the 
readmission of the late Confederate States to the Union. 
The second volume will illustrate the working out in 
the Southern states of the Congressional plan of Recon- 
struction, and the adjustments that followed later. 

The documents presented are principally laws, state and 
federal, official reports, and political platforms; accounts 
of Northern men and foreigners living or traveling in 
the South; accounts of Southerners, white and black, ex- 
Confederates and Unionists, Conservatives and Radicals. 
With the exception of the laws and political documents 
the material used consists mainly of accounts by persons 
who had first hand acquaintance with conditions in the 
South. Owing to the necessity for condensation I have 
had to leave unused five-sixths of the material gathered 
while all that has been included has been subjected to a 
vigorous pruning of all unessential matter. Some congres- 
sional debates on matters of theory or policy are included, 
but I have been obliged reluctantly to omit most of the 
documents illustrative of those important facts in Recon- 
struction — viz., the development of public sentiment in 
the North before 1868 and the reaction that came later. 



viii Documentary History of Reconstruction 



This public opinion which made possible the Reconstruc- 
tion and its undoing, is, however, here reflected in the 
laws and political platforms. Illustrations of it can easily 
be found in the files of the leading newspapers of the 
North, such as the Tribune, and the Nation, which are 
more accessible even in Southern libraries than the files 
of important Southern journals. So this field has been 
somewhat neglected in order to develop others quite as 
important and more difficult of access. And it may be 
objected that the Radical side is given space out of pro- 
portion to its merits. This is due to the fact that most 
of the official documents and collections of testimony are 
of Radical origin and have been better preserved than 
the Conservative material, much of which has been lost 
and destroyed or is still inaccessible. All who have done 
work in Southern history know of the exasperating diffi- 
culties that still lie in the way of the use of documents 
which are in the hands of private individuals. Conse- 
quently, the history of the Conservative element must in 
many cases be developed from unfriendly sources, or from 
documents that have degenerated through careless or 
unfriendly use. While the bias of the documents in the 
first volume is toward the Radical, the reverse is true in 
the second volume. The dates given in the introductory 
note at the head of each document indicate the period 
covered by the document and also the date of origin of 
the present form of the document. Often the dates are 
the same. The difference between the two is in some 
degree a measure of the deterioration of the document. 

An examination of the contents of the first volume will 
show that the origin of the various documents and ex- 
tracts is about as follows: State laws, 25; federal laws, 
17; accounts of Northern men, 148; of Southern men 
(ex-Confederate), 62; of Southern Unionist and Radical, 



Preface ix 

22; of negroes, 12; of foreigners, 2. In most of the doc- 
uments the psychological element is important, especially 
in the non-legal documents. Of the latter, about 64 are 
from what may be called the Southern point of view; 
118 are from the opposite point of view, and 70 are more 
or less indifferent or impartial. These may be readily 
interpreted with proper allowance for the personal equa- 
tion; to those who desire it, the secondary accounts re- 
ferred to at the end of each Introduction will furnish the 
information necessary to construct the historical back- 
ground; a few words of explanation are given in some 
of the introductory notes for the purpose of furnishing a 
clew to the point of view illustrated in that particular 
document. 

For assistance given me during the past six years while 
working on this collection I am indebted tomany consider- 
ate friends. North and South, and for special favors to the 
following: Dr. Thomas M. Owen of the Alabama De- 
partment of Archives and History; President D. B. Pur- 
inton and Professor Waitman Barbe of West Virginia 
University; Hon. Dunbar Rowland of the Mississippi 
Department of Archives and History; Mr. Worthington 
C. Ford, Chief of the Division of Manuscripts, Library 
of Congress; Mr. L. S. Boyd, of the library of the In- 
ter-State Commerce Commission; the authorities of the 
West Virginia University Library, and of the Library 
of Congress; Generals F. C. Ainsworth and George B. 
Davis of the War Department; Hon. Junius Riggs of the 
Alabama Supreme Court Library; Senator Stephen B. 
Elkins; Hon. A. A. Wiley, Montgomery, Alabam.a; Dr. 
G. P. L. Reid, Marion, Alabama; Mr. T. C. Thompson, 
Chattanooga, Tennessee; Hon. J. S. Reynolds, Columbia, 
South Carolina; Professor Yates Snowden, South Caro- 
lina College; Mrs. Myrta Lockett Avary; Mrs. E. G. 



Documentary History of Reconstruction 



Boyd; Mr. G. W. Duncan of the University Publishing 
Company; Dr. R. G. Thwaites, Wisconsin Historical 
Society; Mr Albert Phelps, New Orleans; Hon. W. B. 
Ridgeley, Comptroller of the Currency. At all stages of 
the work I have been aided by my wife. 

Walter L. Fleming. 

West Virginia University, 

Morgantown, August 5, 1906. 



CONTENTS OF VOLUME I 

Preface. The Editor ... vii 

Chapter I. The South after the War: 
Economic and Social Conditions 

Introduction. The Editor ... 3 

References ..... 7 

Section I. The destruction of property . . 9 

(1) The ruin in city and country. 

(2) Destruction in the valley of Virginia. 

(3) The wear and tear of war. 

(4) The impoverished South. 

(5) "The Crown of Poverty." 

(6) The ruin of the slaveholders. 

(7) The wreck of the railways. 

Section 2. Destitution and want among the whites 20 

(1) Suffering in the white counties. 

(2) On the Confederate frontier. 

(3) In Sherman's track. 

(4) Bad crops in ]8G5. 

(5) Government aid to the destitute. 

Section 3. Confiscation frauds . . 25 

(1) Collecting Confederate cotton: and taxes. 

(2) Theft and confiscation of cotton. 

(3) "The government loses in money and character." 

(4) Methods of the treasury agents. 

(5) "Mere rogues and fortune hunters." 

(6) To the victors the spoils. 

(7) "Peculation, robbing, intrigue, plunder." 

Section 4. The cotton tax ... 34 

(1) The injustice of the tax. 

(2) A petition for relief. 

Section 5. The Southern Unionist problem . 36 

(1) Sentiments of a Unionist. 

(2) Proscription of Unionists in Tennessee. 

(3) John Minor Botts on the Southern situation. 

(4) Treatment of the "truly Loyal." 

(5) Persecution of Confederates by Unionists. 

(6) Time the only cure. 

Section 6. Northern men in the South . . 43 

(1) Feeling toward Northern people. 

(2) Treatment of Northern men. 



xii Documentary History of Reconstruction 

Section 7. The Garrisons ... 47 

(1) /Negro troops in South Carolina. 

(2) "A horde of barbarians." 

(3) "Outrageous exercise of tyranny." 

(4) "A constant source of irritation." 

Section 8. The temper of the Southern whites . 51 

(1) Desire for peace and reunion. 

(2) General Grant's observations. 

(3) Carl Schurz on conditions in the South. 

(4) Popular sentiment in the South. 

(5) Historical societies and rebellion. 

(6) The deceitful Southerners. 

(7) Good advice to the Southern people. 

(8) Popular regard for Confederate leaders. 

Section 9. Influence of the Confederates . 63 

(1) General Lee's advice to the Southern people. 

(2) "The backbone and sinew of the South." 

(3) The South "accepts the situation." 

(4) "Buttons a sign of disloyalty." 

(5) Confederate uniforms forbidden. 

Section 10. Misrepresentation of the South . 68 

(1) "A high brfd lady of Mobile." 

(2) "Southern atrocities." 

(3) Complaints about misrepresentation. 

Section 11. From slavery to freedom . 72 

(1) The news' of freedom. 

(2) "Free as birds." 

(3) A plan for a negro town. 

(4) Free negro labor. 

Section 12. Treatment of negroes . . 77 

(1) Conditions of the negroes after the surrender. 

(2) Treatment of negroes in Texas. 

(3) "East Tennesseeans do- not like niggers." 

(4) Loyalists oppose negroes. 

(5) Friends and enemies of the negroes. 

(6) A Northern view of the negro. 

(7) After a year of freedom. 

Section 13. Some troubles and disappointments of freedom 89 

(1) Fred Dougkiss on freedom. 

(2) Freedom a disappointment. 

(3) Fear of negro insurrection. 

(4) Disorderly blacks. 

(5) The condition of the blacks in 18'G6. 

(6) Increased mortality among the negroes. 

Section 14. Consideration of negro suffrage . 95 

(1) A former slaveholder's view of negro suifrage. 

(2) The ballot necessary for the negro. 

(3) Negro' suffrage will come. 

(4) "Loyalist" opposition to negro suffrage. 

(5) The negroes as citizens. 



Contents of Volume I xiii 

Chapter II. Plans, Theories, and Problems 
OF Reconstruction 

Introduction. The Editor . . . 105 

References ..... 107 

Section i. Lincoln's plans and suggestions . 109 

(1) Nullity of secession. 

(2) Amnesty proclamation of 1863. 

(3) Lincoto suggests negro suffrage. 

(4) Proclamation on tlie Wade-Davis bill. 

(5) M^emorandum of conditions of peace. 

(6) "A merely pernicious abstraction." 

Section 2. Johnson's opinions and theories . 116 

(1) "Treason must be made odious." 

(2) The states not destroyed. 

(3) Functions of the states suspended. 

(4) Danger in negro suffrage. 

Section 3. Theories and plans of Congress . 118 

(1) The Crittenden resolutions. 

(2) The WadenDavis plan. 

(3) The "Forfeited Rights" plan. 

Section 4. Southern views on Reconstruction . 128 

(1) Suggestions by Howell Cobb. 

(2) Herschel V. Johnson on Reconstruction. 

Section 5. Unionist plans . . . 134 

(1) Observations of a Union Leaguer. 

(2) A "Loyalist's" demands. 

Section 6. Some Abolitionist views . . 137 

(1) Gerrit Smith's "Thoughts for the People." 

(2) Gerrit Smith advises leniency. 

(3) Chief Justice Chase on negro suffrage. 

Section 7. Charles Sumner's "State suicide" theory 144 

(1) The effect of secession is the destruction of the state. 

(2) Five conditions of reconstruction. 

Section 8. The conquered province theory of Thaddeus 

Stevens . . . 1.^7 

(1) The conquered' provinces. 

(2) The advantages of negro suffrage. 

(3) Reasons for confiscations. 

(4) A plan for confiscation. 

Section 9. Various plans and suggestions . 154 

(1) The Sherman-Johnston convention. 

(2) Opinions of C. P. Huntington. 

(3) Governor Andrew's plan. 

(4) Supreme Court theory. 



xlv Documentary History of Reconstruction 

Chapter III. Restoration by the President 
Introduction. The Editor . . . 163 

References . . . . . 165 

Section I. The President's plan In operation . 167 

(1) An, early attempt at restoration. 

(2) Southern state governments not recognized. 

(3) Johnson's proclamation of amnesty. 

(4) Appointment of a provisional governor. 

(5) Formdng a "Johnson" state government. 

(6) President Johnson on negro suffrage. 

(7) A dehPiite on the abolition of slavery. 

(8) Abolition in North Carolina. 

(9) The ordinance of secession null and. void. 

(10) Repudiation of the Confederate debt. 

(11) Organizing a new state government. 

(12) Laws in force after the war. 

(13) Slavery andi suffrage in a new constitution. 

(14) The Thirteenth Amendment. 

(15) Stanton's opinion of Johnson's policy in 1866. 

(16) The President's report on restoration. 

Section 2. The "provisional" governments In the South 189 

(1) What the war decided. 

(2) The effects of the Test Oath. 

(3) The "iron clad" Test Oath. 

(4) The Alabama legislature on the state of the Union. 

(5) The legal end of the war. 

(6) A Southern opinion of the "Johnson" governments: 

Section 3. Opposition of Congress . . 197 

(1) Congress rejects the President's work. 

(2) Civil Rights Act of 1866. 

(3) The restoration of Tennessee. 

Section 4. Military government, 1 865-1 866 . 203 

Section 5. National politics, 1866 . . 213 

(1) Secretary Seward on the questions at issue. 

(2) Platform of National Union Party. 

(3) Cleveland Convention platform. 

(4) Pittsburg Convention resolutions. 

(.5) President Johnson's Cleveland speech. 

Section 6. Politics in the South, 1866 . 228 

(1) The politics of the Southern soldiers. 

(2) The Louisiana Demiocratic platform. 

(3) Radical politics in Virginia. 

(4) Speeches' of a Radical agitator. 

(5) A negro politician in Florida. 

Section 7. Rejection of the Fourteenth Amendment 234 

(1) Alexander H. Stephens on the conditions of Reconstruction. 

(2) The Fourteenth Amendment rejected in Florida. 

(3) Arkansas rejects the Fourteenth Amendment. 

(4) The President opposes the Fourteenth Amendment. 

(5) A Southern proposal for a Fourteenth Amendment. 



Contents of Volume I xv 

Chapter IV. Race and Labor Problems: 
"Black Codes" 

Introduction. The Editor . . . 243 

References .... 246 

Section i. Discussion of race and labor problems 247 

(1) C. G. Memminger on race and labor problems. 

(2) The negro problemi in Mississippi. 

(3) Reasons for admitting negro testimony. 

(4) Labor problems in Florida. 

(5) The duty of the whites to the negroes. 

(6) Negro testimony in North Carolina. 

(7) The labor situation in Alabama. 

(8) Rights of the negro in Virginia. 

(9) The negi'O under the provisional government. 

(10) A negro's view of the Black Laws. 

Section 2. Laws relating to freedmen . 273 

(1) M'arriages of negroes (Alabama). 

(2) Intermarriage between the races forbidden (Alabama). 

(3) Civil rights of negroes in Arkansas. 

(4) Negro testimony in Alabama courts. 

(5) Labor contracts^ in Florida. 

(6) Schools for freedmen in Florida. 

(7) Regulations for freedmen in Louisiana. 

(8) A Mississippi "Jim Crow" law. 

(9) Mississippi apprentice law. 

(10) 'Mississippi vagrant law. 

(11) Civil Rights of freedmen in Mississippi. 

(12) Certain offenses of freedmen (Mississippi). 

(13) North Carolina "Black Code." 

(14) The domestic relations of negroes, pauperism and vagrancy 

(South Carolina). 

(15) "Persons of color" in Tennessee. 

(16) The negro in the new constitutions. 

Chapter V. The Freedmen's Bureau and 
the Freedmen's Bank 

Introduction. The Editor . . . 315 

References . . . . . 318 

Section i. Laws relating to the Bureau . 319 

(1) First Freedmen's Bureau act. 

(2) Second Freedmen's Bureau act. 

Section 2. Official regulations and reports . 327 

(1) The army and the freedmen. 

(2) Rules and regulations for assistant commissioners. 

(3) Instructions to assistant commiissioners. 

(4) The Bureau and the laws of the states. 

(5) Regulation of labor conti-acts. 



xvi Documentary History of Reconstruction 

(G) Advice to Texas planters. 

(7) Advice to white and blaclv. 

(8) Tlie Bureau in Louisiana. 

(9) Report of General Grant. 

(10) Jealousy of the army. 

(11) The fate of the "Old Time Southerner." 

(12) Dislike of the Bureau in Kentucky. 

(13) Bureau courts in Georgia. 

(14) Failure of the colonization plan. 

Section 3. Confiscation: "Forty acres and a mule" 350 

(1) Sherman's confiscations. 

(2) The policy of the Bureau in regard to confiscation. 

(3) Freedmen expect lands. 

(4) Confiscations in South Carolina. 

(5) Some results of Sherman's order. 

(6) Land certificates in Floiida. 

(7) Painted pegs from Wasl.ington. 

(8) Sales of stripedi pegs. 

Section 4. Estimates and opinions of the Bureau's work 361 

(1) Carl Schurz defends the Bureau. 

(2) Dissaitisf action about wage regulation. 

(3) The necessity for the Bureau. 

(4) The Bureau and the negro troops. 

(5) A Northern man's opinion. 

(6) Views of John Miinor Botts. 

(7) "Productive only of miscliief." 

(8) Criticism of the Bureau not disloyalty. 

(9) The Bureau demoralized labor. 

(10) Wade Hampton's opinion of the Bureau. 

(11) Influence in labor and politics. 

(12) The Bureau as a political machine. 

(13) Political activities of Bureau officials. 

(14) The workings of the Bureau. 

(15) Success of the Bureau. 

(16) A negro's description of the Bureau. 

(17) Charges against General Howard. 

Section 5, The Freedmen's Bank . . 382 

(1) Act incorporating the Freedmen's Bank. 

(2) In successful operation. 

(3) Information and instruction. 

(4) Statistics of savings. 

(5) Frederick Do'Uglass and the Freedmen's Bank. 

(6) Investigation of the Bank. 

(7) Experience of a depositor. 

Chapter VI. Reconstruction by Congress 

Introduction. The Editor . . . 397 

References . . . . . 399 

Section i. Congress begins reconstruction . 401 

(1) First Reconstruction act. 

(2) The command of the army. 

(3) Tenure of Office act. 

(4) Supplementary Reconstiniction act. 



Contents of Volume I xvii 

(5) Interpretation of the Reconstruction acts. 

(6) Third Reconstruction act. 

(7) Fourth Reconstruction act. 

Section 2. The South's reception of the policy of Con- 
gress . . . 420 

(1) Whites promise co-operation. 

(2) Jxistice to the blacks. 

(3) A negro's speech. 

(4) Begimiing of opposition. 

(5) Opposition of the whites in Arkansas. 

(6) "Virtue and intelligence under foot." 

(7) A Southern Radical platform. 

Section 3. The use of the army in reconstruction 428 

(1) The army takes control. 

(2) Status of state officials. 

(3) Registrars and registration disitrictsi. 

(4) Enrolling the new electorate. 
('5) Persons disfranchised. 

(6) Interference with the civil government. 

(7) Regulation of local government. 

(8) Military police and courts. 

(9) General Grant versus the attorney general. 

(10) Freedom of the press limited. 

(11) Forcing "patriotism." 

(12) General Sheridan in New Orleans. 

(13) Miilitary misrule in Alabama. 

(14) Military "justice." 

(15) Completion of militairy reconstruction. 

(16) Military districts discontinuedi 

Section 4. In the "Black and Tan" Conventions 449 

(1) The need for carpetbaggers. 

(2) Correcting the vocabulary of South Carolina. 

(3) Lands for the freedmen. 

(4) Disfranchising ex-Confederates in Alabama. 

Section 5. Opposition to the new constitutions 454 

(1) The new constitutions. 

(2) Objections to the new constitution of South CJarolina. 

(3) Whites petition against Reconstruction. 

Section 6. Impeachment of the President . 458 

(1) Articles of impeachment. 

(2) Charles Summer's opinion. 

Section 7. Readmission of states : Fourteenth Amendment 476 

(1) Arkansas readmitted. 

(2) Six more states readmitted. 

(3) The Fourteenth Amendment. 

Section 8. Reconstruction the issue in the campaign of 

1868 480 

(1) The Republican platform on Reconstruction. 

(2) The Democratic platform on Reconstruction. 

(3) Viev.s of F. P. Blair. 



xviii Documentary History of Reconstruction 

(4) The issue in the South. 

(5) Southern whites to the negroes. 

Section 9. Reconstruction completed . 487 

(1) Republican converts in Virginia. 

(2) New constitutions of Virginia, Mississippi, and Texas. 

(3) Virginia readmitted. 

(4) Georgia reconstructed a second time. 

(5) The Fifteenth Amendment. 



ILLUSTRATIONS TO VOLUME I 

The fate of the carpetbagger and the scalawag; cartoon by 
Ryland Randolph. ..... Frontispiece 

Lincoln's conditions of peace; unsigned memorandum given to 
J. A. Campbell, Confederate Assistant Secretary of War, 
April 5, 1865 114 

Facsimile of first page of General Howell Cobb's letter on Re- 
construction, June 14, 1865. . . . . 128 

Facsimile (reduced) of part of Bancroft's draft of President 
Johnson's message, December 4, 1865; and his letter to 
Johnson, November 9, 1865. . . . . 186 

A depositor's account in the Freedman's Bank . . 394 



I 

THE SOUTH AFTER THE WAR: ECONOMIC 
AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS 



THE SOUTH AFTER THE WAR: ECONOMIC 
AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS 



INTRODUCTION 

The course of Reconstruction was afifected to a great de- 
gree by the conditions found in the South after the close 
of the Civil War. In all material aspects these condi- 
tions were bad; but of the popular state of mind it is 
difficult to form a judgment. The documents given 
below aim to illustrate the social and economic disorder 
that existed and to exhibit the contradictory opinions 
held as to the character and temper of the Southern 
whites. 

The loss of life among the Southern soldiers had been 
large, while great numbers were injured by wounds and 
by the diseases and hardships of camp and prison. These 
men, many of them unable to work, came home to find 
everywhere almost complete economic ruin. Accumu- 
lated capital and improvements had disappeared. Slave 
property, banking capital, bonds and other securities, 
mills, factories, gins, public buildings, bridges, railroads, 
steamboats, farm stock and farm implements, furniture 
and often private houses and property — all these were 
destroyed, captured or worn out in the four years' war 
which touched every part of the South. A million white 
people in the remote districts were for a year or more 
on the verge of starvation, and many died from lack of 
food. In the white districts there was destitution after 
1862, and the Confederate government had been taxed to 
the utmost to prevent starvation. The collapse of the 

3 



4 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

Confederacy left the destitute people without hope of 
relief. Later the United States government and private 
charity came to the rescue, but it was ten years before 
suffering ceased to be common. 

The fall of the Confederacy left ten states practically 
without government for several months; great stretches 
of countr}^ on the military frontiers had been without set- 
tled institutions since 1861, and in such districts and in 
the back country w^ere gathered deserters from both 
armies, bushwhackers, and other outlaws who preyed 
upon the defenseless people. Those who had been perse- 
cuted as Unionists by the Confederates now retaliated. 
Negro insurrections were feared. The Federal garri- 
sons, the only reliance to enforce order, were few and 
small, and the troops were not of the best character — the 
best ones clamoring for discharge, went north to be mus- 
tered out, while those left were principally ill-disciplined 
blacks, guilty of much disorder. 

During this period when there was no authority to 
protect the Southern people, the territory of the former 
states was invaded by swarms of treasury agents, or those 
who pretended to be, searching for confiscable property. 
No distinction appears to have been made by them be- 
tween property legally subject to confiscation and prop- 
erty that was not. These agents often united with native 
thieves and plundered the country of the little that was 
left in the way of supplies, cotton, tobacco, corn, etc. The 
statistics show that the Government profited nothing by 
the confiscations: it has given back to the owners nearly 
all it received; but most of the proceeds went into the 
pockets of the agents. 

And when the w'hite farmer was endeavoring to be- 
gin anew and the black farmer was for the first time work- 
ing for himself, there came upon the impoverished peo- 



Introduction 



pie the crushing burden of the cotton tax: two and one- 
half to three cents a pound — $12 to $15 a bale — which 
took about $70,000,000 from the cotton farmers in 1865- 
1868. The three years' tax in Alabama, though short 
crops were made, was equivalent to one-fifth of the total 
value of the land in the state; in Georgia the negro's cot- 
ton tax was nearly twice the amount of rent he paid. 
Proposals for still heavier taxation were defeated in 1867, 
by the opposition, it is said, of Northern commercial 
bodies. 

Besides the dark economic outlook there were other 
matters that irritated or depressed the Southern white 
population: the fall of the Confederacy; the arrest and 
imprisonment of their leaders; irritation by the army, 
Freedmen's Bureau, missionaries, etc; demands by some 
that the South should acknowledge its sin in slavery and 
secession, repudiate its former leaders, and not consider 
it "honorable to have engaged in rebellion;" the prohibi- 
tion against historical societies and reunions of soldiers; 
and against the wearing of Confederate clothes or 
colors, or singing Confederate songs; the persistent mis- 
representations, by agitators for selfish purposes, of the 
character and conduct of the white people ; the instiga- 
tion of the blacks to lawlessness; the question of social 
and business relations with Northern men; and the negro 
problem. All these irritants acted with varying efifect 
upon the several classes of the Southern whites — the 
soldiers, the stay-at-'homes, the "fire-eaters," and the 
women; and upon these people depended the ultimate 
success or failure of any plan of Reconstruction that 
might be adopted. 

To the North the problem of the negro was the most 
important one. The blacks suffered dreadfully in the 
last years of the war and for several years after, in Fed- 



6 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

eral camps, or around the towns in the "contraband" col- 
onies. They behaved well when freedom came, but great 
numbers ceased to work for self-support. De Bow in 
1866 estimated that their numbers had decreased by one- 
fourth, too large an estimate, no doubt. The Federal 
army officers for a while planned the separation of the 
races and several experiments were made. The treatment 
of the blacks by former masters, by low whites, and by 
the Unionists, was a burning question upon which there 
was much disagreement in the North, though all seemed 
to agree that the former masters were not to be trusted in 
matters relating to negroes. Negro suffrage was sug- 
gested at the very first, and in respect to it, Northern rad- 
ical. Black Belt planter, the average Southern white, and 
the Unionist, each held different views. 

There was a general desire at the North to know what 
the Southern people were thinking and doing, and before 
the Confederate soldiers had reached their homes every 
important newspaper in the North had a correspondent 
travelling in the South. The President sent down several 
agents, among them General Carl Schurz, a German rev- 
olutionist of 1848 who had served in the Federal army; 
Benjamin C. Truman, a well known newspaper man; 
Harvey M. Watterson, of Kentucky, a Southern Unionist 
(whose son Henry, later editor of the Courier-Journal, 
was in the Confederate army) ; Chief Justice Chase; Gen- 
eral U. S. Grant and others. In 1866 the Joint Commit- 
tee of Congress on Reconstruction took a mass of tes- 
timony from witnesses who were in general hostile to the 
South. Whitelaw Reid and John T. Trowbridge both 
wrote books on their travels in the South in 1865. Freed- 
men's Bureau and army officers made voluminous reports. 



REFERENCES 

Downfall of the Confederacy: Avary, Dixie after the War, ch. 2-8; 
Fleming, Civil War and Reconstruction in Alahama, pp. 262, 341; 
Rhodes, History of the United States, vol. v, p. 535; Garner, Reconstruc- 
tion in Mississippi, p. 56; Harrell, The Brooks and Baxter War, ch. 1. 

The Intebeegjstjm: Fleming, p. 262. 

The MrLiTAEY Occitation: Avary, ch. 3, 10, 11, 12; Clay, A Belle of the 
Fifties, ch. 22; Clayton, White and Black under the Old Regime, p. 144; 
Fleming, ch. 10; Garner, p. 29; Hollis, Early Period of Reconstruction in 
South Carolina, p. 45; Reynolds, Reconstruction in South Carolina, p. 4; 
Pryor, Reminiscences of Peace and War, ch. 25. 

Destruction of Peoperty: Avary, ch. 1; Fleming, ch. 5; Garner, p. 122; 
Hollis, pp. 10, 18; Herbert, The Solid South, pp. 29, 113; LeConte, Auto- 
biography, ch. 7, 8. 

Destitution and Suffering: Avary, ch. 14, 15; Fleming, ch. 5; Garner, 
ch. 4; Hollis, ch. 7; LeConte, ch. 7, 8'; Pryor, p. 372. 

Cotton Stealing and Confiscation: Fleming, ch. ;6; Garner, p. 127; 
LeConte, ch. 9; McCulloch, Men and Measures, p. 234; Rhodes, vol. v, 
pp. 85-107, 274, 411. 

Cotton Tax: Fleming, ch. 6; Garner, p. ISl. 

Southern Unionists: Fleming, p. 313; Harrell, ch. 1; Rhodes, vol. v, 
pp. 447-452. 

Treatment of Northern Men in the South: Fleming, p. 318; Garner, p. 

149; LeConte, ch. 9. 
"The Temper of the South:" Avarj', ch. 7-15; Clay, ch. 21, 22; Fleming, 

ch. 7; Garner, p. 61; Hollis, ch. 1; LeConte, ch. 9; Phelps, Louisiana, 

ch. 14; Pryor, ch. 25, 26; Rhodes, vol. v, p. 551. 
Influence of the Confederate Soldiers: Avary, ch. 6, 14; Fleming, ch. 

7; Harrell, ch. 1; Lee, Letters and Recollections of General Lee, ch. 8, 

9, 12. 
Confederate Buttons and Uniforms: Avary, ch. 11. 
Imprisonment of Confederate Leaders: Avary, ch. 9, 19, 21; Fleming, 

pp. 310, 391. 
CoN"DiTiONS AMONG THE BLACKS : Avary, ch. 16, 17, 18'; Fleming, p. 269; 

Garner, p. 35; Rhodes, vol. v, p. 551; Smedes, Southern Planter, ch. 19, 

20; Wallace, Carpet Bag Rule in Florida, ch. 1-3; Washington, Up from 

Slavery, pp. 23, 24, 135. 
Consideration of Negro Suffrage: Fleming, p. 386. 
Social Life after the War: Avary, ch. 11, 13, 15; Fleming, p. 310; 

LeConte, ch. 9. 



I. THE DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY 



The Ruin in City and Country 

Robert Somers, Southern States, pp. 37, 114. An English traveler's 
observations in 1870. [1S65-1S70] 

Never had a completer ruin fallen upon any city than fell upon 
Charleston. . . Her planters were reduced from affluence to 
poverty — her merchants were scattered to the four winds of 
heaven — her shopkeepers closed their doors, or contrlv^ed to 
support a precarious existence on contraband of war — her 
young men went to die on the battlefields or in the military 
prisons of the North — her women and children, who could, 
fled to the country. The Federal Government kept Charleston 
under close blockade, and added to its miseries by occasional 
bombardments. When this process in five years had reached 
the last stage of exhaustion, and the military surrender gave 
practical effect to emancipation, the negroes in the country 
parts, following up the childlike instinct of former days that 
Charleston was the El Dorado of the world, flocked into the 
ruined town, and made its aspect of misery and desolation more 
complete. . . The houses had not only lost all their bright 
paint without, but were mostly tenantless within; many fine 
mansions, long deserted, were fast mouldering into decay and 
ruin; and the demand for labor and the supply of provisions 
were at the lowest point. Seldom has there been a more hope- 
less chaos out of which to construct a new order of things 
than Charleston presented in those days. Yet the process of 
amelioration has year by year been steadily going forward. . . 
Some of the old planters have also survived, and are seen, 
though diminished in numbers and with saddened countenances, 
yet with the steady fire of Anglo-Saxon courage in their eyes, 
attending to affairs like m.en determined to conquer fortune 
even in the depths of ruin and in the brink of the grave. . . 

The [Tennessee Valley] consists for the most part of plan- 
tations in a state of semi-ruin, and plantations of which the ruin 
is for the present total and complete. . . The trail of war is 

9 



lO Documentary History of Reconstruction 

visible throughout the valley in burnt up gin-houses, ruined 
bridges, mills, and factories, of which latter the gable walls 
only are left standing, and in large tracts of once cultivated land 
stripped of every vestige of fencing. The roads, long neglec- 
ted, are in disorder, and having in many places become impass- 
able, new tracks have been made through the woods and fields 
wMthout much respect to boundaries. Borne down by debts, 
losses, and accumulating taxes, many who were once the richest 
among their fellows have disappeared from the scene, and few 
have yet risen to take their places. But generally the old home- 
steads and the old families continue to be the centres of reviving 
industry and cultivation, and many valiant efforts have been 
made since the war to stay the advancing tide of barrenness 
and ruin. Fences have been rebuilt round not a few of the 
plantations, and the negro and the mule been once more set 
to work in growing corn and cotton. 

Destruction in the Valley of Virginia 

Report of Joint Committee on Reconstruction, part ii, p. 68. State- 
ment of a native of Virginia. [1S66] 

People are thinking about their private business; they want to 
go to work to repair their losses; they do not wish any more 
war, domestic or foreign war, if it can be avoided. They are 
tired of war. . . They are an afflicted people, terribly afflicted; 
almost all of them have lost sons or brothers; the country is 
full of widows and orphans and destitute people. I think that 
on the whole, the people are bearing their misfortunes with 
cheerfulness and fortitude, and are anxious now just to get the 
means of restoring their losses, and if politicians would let them 
alone, I think there would be no trouble whatever. . . 

From Harper's Ferry to New Market, which is about 
eighty miles, . . the country was almost a desert. There were 
no fences. Speaking of the condition of the valley after Gen- 
eral Sheridan retired, I described wheat-fields growing without 
any enclosure ; someone asked me whether the stock would not 
destroy the wheat. I said "Certainly, if General Sheridan had 
not taken the precaution of removing all the stock." We could 
cultivate grain without fences, as we had no cattle, hogs, sheep, 
or horses, or anything else. The fences were all gone; some 



The Destruction of Property li 

of the orchards were very much injured, but the fruit trees had 
not been . . destroyed. The barns were all burned; a great 
many of the private dwellings were burned ; chimneys standing 
without houses, and houses standing without roof, or 
door, or window; a most desolate state of affairs; bridges all 
destroyed, roads badly cut up. 

The Wear and Tear of War 

iWhitelaw Reid, Aper the TVflr, p. 224. Reid was later editor of the 
New York Trihune. He is now ambassador to England. He traveled 
in the South for several months in 186.5. He quotes the following des- 
cription from General Boynton. [1865] 

Everything has been mended, and generally in the rudest 
style. Window-glass has given way to thin boards, and these 
are in use in railway coaches and in the cities. Furniture is 
marred and broken, and none has been replaced for four years. 
Dishes are cemented in various styles, and half the pitchers 
have tin handles. A complete set of crockery is never seen, 
and in very few families is there enough to set a table. . . A set 
of forks with whole tines is a curiosity. Clocks and watches 
have nearly all stopped. . . Hair brushes and tooth brushes 
have all worn out; combs are broken and are not yet replaced; 
pins, needles, and thread, and a thousand such articles, which 
seem indispensable to housekeeping, are very scarce. Even in 
weaving on the looms, corn-cobs have been substituted for spin- 
dles. Few have pocket knives. In fact, everything that has 
heretofore been an article of sale at the South is wanting now. 
At the tables of those who were once esteemed luxurious provid- 
ers, you will find neither tea, coffee, sugar, nor spices of any 
kind. Even candles, in some cases, have been replaced by a cup 
of grease, in which a piece of cloth is plunged for a wick. The 
problem which the South had to solve has been, not how to be 
comfortable during the war, but how to live at all. 

The Impoverished South 

Senate Ex. Doc. no. 2. 39 Cong.. 1 8ess., p. 38: Report of General 
Carl Schurz to President Johnson. Schurz was sent by the President 
to investigate conditions in the South. [1S65] 

It is, indeed, difficult to imagine circumstances more unfavor- 
able for the development of a calm and unprejudiced public 



12 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

opinion than those under which the southern people are at 
present laboring. The war has not only defeated their politi- 
cal aspirations, but it has broken up their whole social organi- 
zation. When the rebellion was put down they found them- 
selves not only conquered in a political and military sense, but 
economically ruined. The planters, who represented the 
wealth of the southern country, are partly laboring under the 
severest embarrassments, partly reduced to absolute poverty. 
Many who are stripped of all available means, and have noth- 
ing but their land, cross their arms in gloomy despondency, 
incapable of rising to a manly resolution. Others, who still 
possess means, are at a loss how to use them, as their old way of 
doing things is, by the abolition of slavery, rendered imprac- 
ticable, . , Others are still trying to go on in the old way, 
and that old way is in fact the only one they understand, and 
in which they have any confidence. Only a minority is trying 
to adopt the new order of things. A large number of the 
plantations . . is under heavy mortgages, and the owners 
know that, unless they retrieve their fortunes in a comparatively 
short space of time, their property will pass out of their hands. 
. . The nervous anxiety which such a state of things pro- 
duces extends also to those classes of society which, although 
not composed of planters, were always in business connection 
with the planting interest, and there was hardly a branch of 
commerce or industry in the south which was not directly or 
indirectly so connected. Besides, the southern soldiers, when 
returning from the war, did not, like the northern soldiers, find 
a prosperous community which merely waited for their arrival 
to give them remunerative employment. They found, many of 
them, their homesteads destroyed, their farms devastated, their 
families in distress; and those that were less unfortunate found, 
at all events, an impoverished and exhausted community which 
had but little to offer them. Thus a great many have been 
thrown upon the world to shift as best they can. They must 
do something honest or dishonest, and must do it soon, to make 
a living, and their prospects are, at present, not very bright. 



The Destruction of Property 13 

"The Crown of Poverty" 

Susan Dabney Smedes, Memorials of a Southern Planter, p. 231. Copy- 
right, IJST. This extract is used by permission of James Pott & Co. 
Mrs. Smedes was writing of her father, Col. Thomas L. Dabney, a 
Mississippi planter. [1865-1870] 

It was now the autumn of 1866. One night he walked up- 
stairs to the room where his children were sitting with a paper 
in his hand. "My children," he said, "I am a ruined man. 
The sheriff is down-stairs. He has served this writ on me. It 
is for a security debt. I do not even know how many more 
such papers have my name on them." His face was white as 
he said these words. He was sixty-eight years of age, with a 
large and helpless family on his hands, and the country in such 
a condition that young men scarcely knew how to make a live- 
lihood. 

The sheriff came with more writs. Thomas roused himself 
to meet them all. He determined to pay every dollar. But to 
do this he must have time. The sale of everything that he 
owned would not pay all these claims. . . 

A gentleman to whom he owed personally several thousand 
dollars courteously forebore to send in his claim. Thomas was 
determined that he should not on this account fail to get his 
money, and wrote, urging him to bring a friendly suit, that, 
if the worst came, he would at least get his proportion. Thus 
urged, the friendly suit was brought, the man deprecating the 
proceeding. . . 

And now the judgments . . went against him one by one. 
On the 27th November, 1866, the Burleigh plantation was put 
up at auction and sold, but the privilege of buying it in a certain 
time reserved to Thomas. At this time incendiary fires were 
common. There was not much law in the land. Vv'^e heard 
of the gin-houses and cotton-houses that were burned in all 
directions. One day as Thomas came back from a business 
journey the smouldering ruins of his gin-house met his eye. . . 
All the cotton that he owned was consumed in it. He had not 
a dollar. He had to borrow the money to buy a postage 
stamp, not only during this year, but during many years to 
come. . . 



14 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

Many honorable men In the South were taking the benefit of 
the bankrupt law. Thomas's relations and friends urged him 
to take the law. It was madness, they said, for a man of his 
age, in the condition the country was then in, to talk of settling 
the immense debts that were against him. He refused with 
scorn to listen to such proposals. But his heart was well-nigh 
broken. He called his children around him, as he lay in bed, 
not eating and scarcely sleeping. 

"My children," he said, "I shall have nothing to leave you 
but a fair name. But you may depend that I shall leave you 
that. I shall, if I live, pay every dollar that I owe. If I die, 
I leave these debts to you to discharge. Do not let my name 
be dishonored." . . 

But he soon aroused himself from his depression and set 
about arranging to raise the money needed to buy in the plan- 
tation. It could only be done by giving up all the money 
brought in by the cotton crop for many years. This meant 
rigid self denial for himself and his children. He could not 
bear the thought of seeing his daughters deprived of comforts. 
He was ready to stand unflinchingly any fate that might be in 
store for him. . . He determined to spare his daughters all 
such labor as he could perform. General Sherman had said 
that he would like to bring every Southern woman to the wash- 
tub. "He shall never bring my daughters to the wash-tub," 
Thomas Dabney said. "I will do the washing myself." And 
he did it for two years. He was in his seventieth year when 
he began to do it. 

This may give some idea of the labors, the privations, the 
hardships, of those terrible years. The most intimate friends 
of Thomas, nay, his own children, who were not in the daily 
life at Burleigh, have never known the unprecedented self- 
denial, carried to the extent of acutest bodily sufferings, which 
he practiced during this time. A curtain must be drawn over 
the life of my lion-hearted father! 

Oftentimes he was so exhausted when he came in to din- 
ner that he could not eat for a while. He had his old bright 
way of making everyone take an interest in his pursuits, — sym- 



The Destruction of Property 15 

pathy was as necessary and sweet to him as to a child, — and 
he showed with pride what he had done by his personal labor 
in gardening and in washing. He placed the clothes on the 
line as carefully as if they were meant to hang there always, 
and they must be admired, too! He said, and truly, that he 
had never seen snowier ones. . . At the end of a hard day's 
work he would say, sometimes, "General Sherman has not 
brought my daughters to the wash-tub." . . His hands were 
much bent with age and gout. No glove could be drawn 
over them. They had been so soft that a bridle rein, unless 
he had his gloves on, chafed them unpleasantly. He expressed 
thankfulness that the bent fingers and palms did not interfere 
with his holding either his hoe-handle or his pen. . . He tried 
hard to learn to plough, but could not do it. It was a real 
disappointment. He tried to learn to cut wood, but com- 
plained that he could not strike twice in the same spot. It 
was with great labor that he got a stick cut in two. His failure 
In this filled him with a dogged determination to succeed, and 
he persisted in cutting wood in the most painful manner, often 
till he was exhausted. Some one told him of a hand-saw for 
sawing wood, and he was delighted and felt independent when 
he got one. He enjoyed it like a new toy, and it was so much 
better in his hands than the axe. He sawed wood by the hour, 
in the cold and in the heat. . . 



The Ruin of the Slaveholders 

J. S. Pike, The Prostrate State, p. 117. Pike was a native of Maine, 
traveling in South Carolina in 1S71. From 1861 to 1866 he was min- 
ister to Belgium. In 1871 he was associate editor of the New York 
Tribune. [1865+] 

Everything went into Confederate securities; everything to 
eat and everything to wear was consumed, and when the war 
suddenly ended there was nothing left but absolute poverty and 
nakedness. Famine followed, and suffering beyond computa- 
tion, the story of which has never been told. Rich planters' 
families subsisted on corn-bread when they could get it, but 
often they could not, and then they resorted to a coarse cattle 



i6 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

fodder known as "cow-peas." It Is reported of the poet Tim- 
rod, who contributed his fiery lyrics In aid of the rebelhon — all 
that he had to give — that he and his were saved from actual 
starvation, when they were at their last gasp, just previous to 
his death. Others fared not so well. 

There were numerous large slave-holders and property-own- 
ers In and about Columbia who went down In the general ruin. 
Some were Immensely wealthy; there were several families own- 
ing 500 and 1000 slaves apiece. Many were proprietors of 
plantations on the banks of the Mississippi. These planta- 
tions were more or less mortgaged. When slavery went, the 
mortgages consumed the rest; and men enjoying an Income of 
$100,000 a year on the opening of the war were stripped of 
their last cent at Its close. An elderly gentleman of nearly 
eighty years, formerly a rich man, and president of a bank of 
about $1,000,000 capital, was able by great exertion to save 
his dwelling from conflagration In Columbia. It was all he 
preserved from the wreck of his fortunes. Happily he V\^as a 
lover of flowers, and had a large greenhouse In his gardens. 
In his stripped condition he resorted to It for support; and 
today he lives by personally growing flowers for sale, which 
he does with a cheerful assiduity which gilds his misfortunes, 
and lends even a pleasing glow to the evening of his life. Old 
Wade Hampton, of Revolutionary memory, who won his spurs 
at the battle of Eutaw Springs, and was an aid-de-camp of 
General Washington, was a resident of Columbia, and owned 
vast estates. He and his family were the grandees of the 
county for all these subsequent generations. They numbered 
their slaves by the thousand when the war began, and had 
large plantations In other States. The family is now broken 
and scattered. The great old family mansion and extensive 
grounds filled with rare exotics, the abode of luxurious hospi- 
tality for seventy years, has, since the war, been haunted by 
ghosts, and now, dilapidated and falling into decay, passes into 
the hands of strangers. In the vicinity lived a gentleman 
whose Income, when the war broke out, was rated at $150,000 
a year. He was not only a victim to the general ruin, but 



The Destruction of Property 17 

peculiar circumstances added to his misfortunes. Not a ves- 
tige of his whole vast property of millions remains today. 
Not far distant were the estates of a large proprietor and a 
well known family, rich and distinguished for generations. 
The slaves are gone. The family is gone. A single scion of 
the house remains, and he peddles tea by the pound and molas- 
ses by the quart, on a corner of the old homestead, to the 
former slaves of the family, and thereby earns his liveli- 
hood. . . 

But the poor people were stripped as well as the rich. 
Though they had but little, yet that little was their all. And 
to lose it was to lose all. And to this was added a grievous 
disappointment. . . They were hoarding their imaginary 
money, feeling that they were sure to come out rich in the end. 
Great was their dismay and their astonishment when they 
found they had leaned on a broken reed, and their visions of 
sudden wealth had vanished in an instant. 



The Wreck of the Railways 

House Report no. 3',, 39 Cong., 2 Sess., pp. 714, 821, 832, 8G6. 102'6, 
1036. The following extracts are from the reports of the principal 
Southern railways in 1865. [1865] 

From Pocahontas to Decatur, [Alabama] one-hundred and 
fourteen miles, almost entirely destroyed, except the road-bed 
and iron rails and they in very bad condition — every bridge 
and trestle destroyed, cross-ties rotten, buildings burned, water- 
tanks gone, ditches filled up, and track grown up in weeds and 
bushes; not a saw-mill near the line; the labor system of the 
country gone. About forty miles of the track was burned, 
cross-ties entirely destroyed, and rails bent and twisted in such 
manner as to require great labor to straighten, and a large por- 
tion Oi them requiring renewal. . . 

That portion of the road [in Mississippi] not having 
received any attention since 1862, it became enveloped with 
briers, bushes, and grass, the undisturbed growth of three 
years, thus causing . . the decay of the pine timber used in its 
construction. There was scarcely a single bridge on that sec- 



i8 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

tion that was not wholly or in part, destroyed by fire, or ren- 
dered unfit for use by decay. Of the cross-ties on this section, 
fully three fourths have to be replaced to render the road safe 
for the transit of cars and locomotives. . . 

Of the splendidly equipped road . . of the 49 locomotives, 
37 passenger cars, (many of which had never been used,) and 
550 freight, baggage, and gravel cars, there remained fit for 
use, though in a damaged condition, between Jackson and Can- 
ton, I locomotive, 2 second class passenger cars, i first class 
passenger car, i baggage car, i provision car, 2 stock and 2 
flat cars. 

On the section between Jackson and Brookhaven, there were 
in use 2 locomotives, damaged, having been partly burned; 
4 box-cars, one of which was used for passengers, and 9 fiat 
cars. All the other locomotives have been burned or damaged 
by time and exposure, and rendered unfit for service. . . 
Of all the depot buildings and platforms attached, wood- 
sheds, and water stations and division houses, which were In 
complete repair in 1862, there remained only [three] build- 
ings . . the remainder having all, from time to time, been 
destroyed by the armed forces in their vicinity. 

In Selma [Alabama], the depot, shops, with the tools and 
machinery, foundry, engine-house, and store-house were in 
ruins. The track was damaged, and covered with the wrecks 
of burnt locomotives and cars which had been left in a disabled 
condition. . . All the truss-bridges and station-houses, and sev- 
eral of the water-tanks south of Shelby Springs, were burnt. 
About one mile of the track was rendered unserviceable by the 
burning of the cross-ties and the bending of the iron. North 
of Talladega the . . bridges and all the station-houses were 
destroyed by General Croxton's command. The rolling stock 
which had been saved had been cut oli from the road by the 
destruction of two bridges on the Selma and Meridian road, 
and consequently could not be made available in the work of 
reconstruction. The laboring force . . was in great part scat- 
tered and demoralized. Throughout the country disorganiza- 
tion, and a general scarcity of provisions, and of all appliances 



The Destruction of Property 19 

and means of carrying on work, prevailed. There was no 
money in the treasury and no means of securing it. 

I found the road [in Tennessee and Georgia] in bad condi- 
tion; the track force had been over two weeks at work repair- 
ing; still it was with difficulty I passed over it with the train. 
The iron had been torn up at the principal road-crossings; 
stock-gaps were out of order, and fences built across the track; 
ditches filled up ; . . in many of the cuts the iron was covered 
with loose rock and dirt; the embankments had settled and 
washed; culverts filled up; track out of line . . new cross-ties 
wanted to replace those too rotten to hold a spike. Trestles had 
to be overhauled. . . Water-stations out of order, having been 
dry for two years. Turning-table at Trenton full of mud; 
had to be rewalled. The depots had to be weather-boarded. 
The iron alone remained unhurt, unchanged by the lapse of 
time and the dreadful effects of civil war. . . 

At Columbia [South Carolina] all the shops, depots, 
and buildings of every description, most of the valuable tools, 
many new and of the most approved makes, with all the appli- 
ances of as complete a shop, just finished, as, for its design, 
perhaps, the southern country could exhibit — all these, to- 
gether with a very large and most valuable collection of 
material, obtained only with great difficulty and at great ex- 
pense, were utterly destroyed. On the line of road . . with, 
rare exceptions, the entire wooden structures, cross-ties, cul- 
verts, station-houses, water-tanks experienced a like fate; and 
the rails burnt, twisted, and bent into shapes utterly baffling 
all efforts at restoration. 



2. DESTITUTION AND WANT AMONG 
THE WHITES 



Suffering in the White Counties 

Senate Ex. Doc. no. 27, 39 Cong., 1 Sess.. pp. 68, 73, 77. Accounts of 
Freedmen's Bureau officials in Alabama. [1865] 

Two months ago women and children and broken down men 
came thirty and forty miles . . to beg a little food. . . 

Much destitution also exists among the families of the late 
rebels, for the soldiery, . . consumed their substance when 
the means of the Union people were all exhausted. Like 
Actaeon, they were eaten up by their own dogs. The general 
destitution has rendered many kindly disposed people unable 
to do anything for the negroes who were formerly their slaves, 
and who might be supposed to have some claims upon them 
for temporary assistance on that account, and there is much 
suffering among the aged and infirm, the sick and the helpless, 
of this class of people, . . It is a common, an every-day sight 
In Randolph county^ that of women and children, most of 
whom were formerly in good circumstances, begging for bread 
from door to door. Meat of any kind has been a stranger to 
many of their mouths for months. The drought cut off what 
little crops they hoped to save, and they must have immediate 
help or perish. . . 

By far the greater suffering exists among the whites. 
Their scanty supplies have been exhausted, and now they look 
to government alone for support. Some are without homes of 
any description. This seems strange and almost unaccountable. 
Yet, on one road leading to Talladega I visited four families, 
within fifteen minutes' ride of town, who were living In the 
woods, with no shelter but pine boughs, and this in mid-winter. 
Captain Dean, who accompanied me, assured me that upon the 
other roads leading Into town were other families similarly 
situated. These people have no homes. They were widows, 
with large families of small children. Other families, as their 
provisions fail, will wander in for supplies, and I am fearful 

20 



Destitution and Want among the Whites 21 

the result will be a camp of widows and orphans. If possible, 
it should be prevented; and yet I saw about thirty persons for 
Vv'hom shelter must be provided, or death will speedily follow 
their present exposure and suffering. . . 

On the Confederate Frontier 

Annual Cyclopedia, I860, p. 29. From the letters of Gov. Isaac 
Murphy of Arkansas. [December 9, 1865] 

There are thousands suffering in Arkansas for want of food 
and raiment, and who, unless speedily relieved, will, in many 
instances, during the winter, die from the effects of hunger and 
cold. . , 

The desolations of war in our state are beyond description. 
Suffering and poverty are, perhaps, more general in this than 
the other rebel States, from the fact that during the entire 
war an internal and bloody strife existed between the Union 
element and their rebel neighbors. . . Besides the utter deso- 
lation that marked the track of war and battle, guerrilla bands 
and scouting parties have pillaged almost every neighborhood 
north of the Arkansas River, also in the country south of the 
river, lying near the Indian boundary. It would be safe to 
say that two-thirds of the counties in the State are in destitute 
circumstances, and many will suffer for food and clothing this 
winter and spring, unless relieved by the noble kindness of the 
people of the Northern States. 



In Sherman's Track 

Annual Cyclopedia. IS60, p. 392. By a Northern newspaper corre- 
spondent. [1865] 

Passing Marietta [Georgia], where the usual marks of 
destruction appeared, I was interested by the appearance of a 
crowd gathered about one of the few remaining business build- 
ings. I began to make inquiries, . . when they thronged 
about me and began the revelation of a degree of destitution 
that would draw pity from a stone. 



22 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

Thomas H. Moore, of respectable and even cultured address, 
Introduced himself as the agent for the county, appointed by 
the State, for the distribution of supplies voted by the rebel 
Legislature to the people of North Georgia, after Sherman's 
passage. He said all these supplies had been long ago Issued. 
He had himself, since, walked to Atlanta (having no horse), 
to procure more. A few hundred pounds had been furnished, 
which he was now distributing, but It amounted to a mere 
pittance, and he was obliged to reserve It for those who are 
already on the verge of starvation. Women . . hourly, come 
In from a distance of ten to fifteen miles afoot, leaving homes 
entirely destitute. In order to get a few mouthfuls to save the 
lives of their helpless children. 

After him came slaveholders, the wealthiest In the county — 
one with sixty slaves, who complained that what had once 
made them the richest now made them the poorest. They had 
nothing to feed these people, without whose aid the crops could 

not be secured. Mr. had told his negroes that If 

they would remain with him, now that they were free, he would 
compensate them, and share with them his lands, and they 
were anxious to do so; but . . the distributing officers refused 
to furnish the slaveholders, who, unless they could get aid, 
would, together with their negroes, starve. They all told me 
that no man In the country had more than two bushels of corn 
left. . . 

The commandant has mentioned a case that occurred yester- 
day. A poor woman came all the way Into town on foot, from 
a distance of twenty miles, leaving at home a family of children 
who had had nothing to eat for twenty-four hours. Yet the 
most that could be done In answer to her appeal was to request 
the commissary. If possible, to supply her. . . There are 
35,000 men, women, and children In the counties of Georgia, 
Immediately surrounding Atlanta, who are dependent upon 
the United States Government for support and preservation 
from death by hunger. In the counties of North Georgia 
there must be at least as many more, for at every post and 
headquarters of the United States forces hundreds of appli- 



Destitution and Want among the Whites 23 

cants are applying daily for relief. To such an extent does this 
state of affairs prevail that it seriously incommodes the troops; 
and though every effort has been made to relieve the suffering 
of the people yet vast destitution prevails among them. 



Bad Crops in 1865 

Annual Cyclopedia, I860, p. 7S8. Description by a traveller in Texas. 
Over the entire Soutti for several years crops v.-ere uniformly bad. 

[1865] 

The drought had nearly ruined the corn crops, and it Is esti- 
mated that only one-half a crop will be made this season. The 
same will prov^e true of the potato crop. Cotton looks well, 
and we have been Informed by all the citizens that they have 
never before seen such a fine and heavy yield as this season. 
We hear loud complaints everywhere of the scarcity of hands 
to pick and save it. And we saw acres of the finest cotton that 
ever grew dropping out of the bolls, and wasting for the v/ant 
of hands to save it. The planters made contracts with their 
former slaves to remain with them and save the crops, but 
they proved unfaithful and deserted at the first opportunity. 
Thousands of bales of splendid cotton will be lost in Washing- 
ton County by this cause, and the neighboring counties are no 
better off. 



Government Aid to the Destitute 

Annual Cyclopedia, 1SG5, p. 393. A Southern reporter's account. [1865] 
To get an idea of the immensity of the feeding establishments 
In this city [Atlanta] I will give you some Items. During the 
month of June, there were issued to about fifteen thousand re- 
cipients : ninety-five thousand pounds of breadstuff, and the 
same amount of meat, together with the proper proportion of 
salt, coffee, sugar, soap, candles, and other articles. Since the 
ist of July, the Increase of recipients has been very large. A 
large number of refugees who are returning to their homes on 
Government transportation, also receive their subsistence here; 
and this addition has assisted very much to increase the amount 



24 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

of Issue. . . There are employed in the issuing house about 
ten clerks, who are kept on the run all day, and often at night: 
about twenty negroes, who assuredly do not find the work of 
this commissary department as easy a business as working in a 
cornfield, especially when they are caught stealing — a piece 
of waggery which you know the "institution" is very fond 
of perpetrating. A large number of Confederate soldiers, 
lately discharged from Northern prisons, continue to arrive 
here daily, and they, too, are furnished with rations. Taking 
as an entire affair the business of this commissary post, It is 
the biggest thing I have met with In a long time. . . 

I cannot help but remark that it must be a matter of gratitude 
as well as surprise, for our people to see a Government which 
was lately fighting us with fire, and sword, and shell, now gener- 
ously feeding our poor and distressed. In the immense crowds 
which throng the distributing house I notice the mothers and 
fathers, and widows, and orphans of our soldiers, who fought 
nobly, too often to the death. . . Again, the Confederate 
soldier, with one leg or one arm, the crippled, maimed, and 
broken, and the worn and destitute men, who fought bravely 
their enemies then, their benefactors novv^ have their sacks 
filled and are fed. 

There is much in this that takes away the bitter sting and 
sorrow of the past. There is more than humanity in it, on 
the part of the provider; and the generous conduct will go 
farther to heal the wounds of the nation, than all the diplomacy 
and political policy of tricksters and office-seekers during 
centuries to come. 



3- CONFISCATION FRAUDS 



Collecting Confederate Cotton and Taxes 

Ku Klux Report, vol. i, p. 445. Letter of F. S. Lyon, formerly Con- 
federate treasury oflBcial and member of Confederate Congress, to 
F. P. Blair of the Ku Klux Committee of Congress in 1S71. [1865] 

After the armies of Generals Lee, Johnston, and Taylor had 
surrendered and disbanded. General Canby [commanding in 
the Southwest] issued a military order requiring all persons 
who had sold cotton to the Confederate States to surrender the 
same to the United States authorities, under pain of having 
their property confiscated to make good any failure to deliver. 
From this commenced a struggle for the possession of cotton 
which it would be difficult to describe. . . The country was 
suddenly filled with United States Treasury agents, or per- 
sons claiming to be such, some with and others without 
authority to take possession of cotton. 

United States wagons, guarded by United States soldiers, 
roamed over the country in the day-time, and sometimes in the 
night-time, protecting Treasury agents, and sometimes persons 
not Treasury agents, in seizing cotton. Seizures were some- 
times made under the pretense of enforcing General Canby's 
order of confiscation, and sometimes cotton was seized which 
had never been bargained by the semblance of any legal au- 
thority to the Confederate States. When such was the fact 
and the most conclusive proof was made to the chief cotton 
agent at Mobile, that officer would refuse to admit or reject 
the claim, so that his decision might be reversed at Washington, 
and the consequence was that the owners of the cotton had to 
submit to a compromise by giving up part of their cotton, and 
neither that part nor its proceeds, in my judgment, ever found 
a place in the books of the Treasury Department. It was 
seen from the character and conduct of the agents and pre- 
tended agents engaged in the business that plunder, and not the 
increase of funds in the public Treasury, was the object, and 
a scramble for the possession of cotton ensued in which others 

25 



Documentary History of Reconstruction 



than cotton agents took part. The consequence was that the 
cotton agents, or pretended agents, backed by the military 
forces, obtained most of the plunder, but how much of what 
was obtained went into the Treasury I am not informed, but 
from circumstances suppose hardly one-tenth. The Treasury 
Department . . made an order allowing the holders of cotton 
bargained to the Confederate States one-fourth of it for safely 
keeping it during the war and delivering it, but I have reason 
to believe . . that the fact of this order was fraudulently with- 
held by the Treasury agent at Mobile, and that instead of com- 
plying with it he gave his assistants the one-fourth of all the cot- 
ton they obtained as compensation for their services. . . Quite 
a young man, sent to this town [Demopolis, Alabama] as a 
cotton agent, who was without experience in business and of but 
little business capacity, received for about one month's services 
four hundred bales of cotton, worth at the time at least 
$80,000. 

Frequent changes were made in Treasury agents. As fast 
as one would fill his pockets another would make his appear- 
ance equally hungry for money. 

The same cotton was seized as often as two or three times. 
One agent would seize it and discharge it on proof; his successor 
would reseize it, and subject the owner to a second trial, and 
sometimes a third agent would come in and seize it again. 

There was at the close of the war a very large amount of 
cotton in the country, some of which had been bargained to the 
Confederate States, and a good deal had not. In the scramble 
for it, the rights of very few were respected ; no distinction was 
made between those who were regarded as rebels and those 
who were known to be Union men. Two old citizens of this 
county, Mr. John Collins and Gaius Whitfield, were avowed 
Union men and opposed to the war, from the beginning to the 
end of the controversy, and no favor was shown them; their 
cotton was seized and taken from them. . . 

At the close of the war the people were left in an impover- 
ished condition. Their supplies were pretty well exhausted; 
they had nothing left but . . their lands, some stock, and the 



Confiscation Frauds 27 

remnant of cotton saved from the wreck of their fortunes. 
This cotton was subject to a discriminating tax of three cents ^ 
per pound, when other productions of the soil were elsewhere 
exempted, and the collection of the tax enforced to the last 
pound. 

Another outrage upon the rights of the people occurred here 
since the war. . . The congress of the Confederate States, 
while that power existed, had imposed a tax-in-kind upon all 
provisions raised by planters and farmers — one tenth of all 
grain, meat, etc. After the war the collection of this tax in 
kind was enforced by the United States military orders in this 
part of the country. The agent on my plantation was notified 
by an officer that the tax-in-kind due from me to the extinct 
Confederate States amounted to over one thousand bushels of 
corn, some two barrels of syrup, and perhaps other small 
articles. These articles were demanded and paid. My nearest 
neighbor informed me that Government wagons went to his 
corn-crib and took what they regarded as his tax-in-kind, with- 
out even inviting him to see his corn measured. I heard of 
many other cases where this tax was demanded and collected, 
and believe the amount collected . . was quite large. 

While these things were going on, I represented what I con- 
sidered an outrage to Governor Parsons, then the provisional 
governor of the State, and urged him to communicate the facts 
to the then commanding general at Montgomery. Governor 
Parsons informed me that he had complied with my request; 
that the general stated the collections were without his orders; 
that he would immediately order such collections to cease, and 
require proper vouchers to be given to those whose property 
had been taken ; but such an order from the general was never 
made public, no vouchers Avere given within my knowledge, and 
no steps taken to arrest the enforcement of a confederate law 
which had died with the confederacy. 



1. Internal revenue tax. 



Documentary History of Reconstruction 



Theft and Confiscation of Cotton 

Johnson M8S. (Library of Congress). Report of Sherrard Clemens 
from Shreveport, Louisiana. Clemens, who lived in Wheeling, West 
Virginia, was an agent of President Johnson. [1865] 

The state of things resulting from the acts of various local 
agents, has taken me utterly by surprise: and is I am bold to 
say, rapidly bringing the Government itself into disrepute. . . 

The Agents at Memphis, Little Rock, Vicksburg and 
Natchez, have delegated authority before and since the 15th 
day of June last, to Collect Confederate Cotton, to sub-Agents, 
on various terms of one half, one third, and one fourth of the 
proceeds. The local Agent divides these proceeds with the 
sub-Agents, or fails to make any return to the Treasury De- 
partment at all, putting in many instances the Cotton in the 
hands of the factors who share the unlawful plunder. 

The regular outlet for this country and Arkansas is New 
Orleans, but as the case now is presented, there is conflicting 
jurisdiction by Sub i\gents, from Little Rock, Memphis, Vicks- 
burg, Natchez, and New Orleans. The consequence is they 
go to remote points, call upon some post Commander for an 
escort of Cavalry, and seize all Cotton at accessible points, 
under the pretext of securing Cotton and thus defraud honest 
Citizens. The whole Country is therefore in a state of alarm, 
resulting in a feeling fatal to the organization of any civil 
policy at all. Many of these Sub Agents I know to be dis- 
graced or dismissed Officers of the Army, in consequence of 
peculations and frauds, during the War, in this nefarious busi- 
ness. They and the local agents I believe have presumed upon 
the fact that their designs can be consummated before justice 
can reach them. . . 

It will be far better to abolish the whole system, and leave 
to individual capital. Enterprise and Energy, the whole ques- 
tion, abandoning all hope of securing a tithe of the Vast amount 
of Cotton which belongs to the government. If it is to be lost 
at all, it better be in the hands of Capitalists who will pay for 
it, than to be stolen by sworn officers of the Government, who 



Confiscation Frauds 29 

in their cupidity disgrace their profession, and show they are 
capable of the basest turpitude. 

In confirmation, of what I say, I enclose [nine] papers. . . 
Mr. Little, the Agent at Vicksburg professes to be the brother 
in law, of the Secretary of the Treasury. If he is, I am 
humiliated by the fact, as his deputies here are of the most 
mercenary description, among whom is Gen. Hovey, of Illinois, 
whose history in Cotton, is now part of the public records, and 
who retired from the army in disgrace. . . Under the present 
state of things, I say in pain, that the Federal government is 
in utter disrepute. Under all the circumstances, perhaps the 
most prompt measure, will be for Major Gen. Canby, whom I 
know to be an honest gentleman, to assume military control and 
drive out all Treasury Agents, in Louisiana and Arkansas, ex- 
cept Mr. Jewell, who is here, and compel him to report to Mr. 
Flanders in New Orleans. Both of these gentlemen I believe 
to be beyond a bribe. 

"The Government Loses in Money and Character" 

Johnson MSS. H. M. Watterson to the President, from Mobile, Janu- 
ary 29, 1866. Watterson, the father of Henry Watterson, the present 
editor of the Courier- J ournaJ, was a Southern Unionist. For several 
months he traveled in the South as the President's agent, investigat- 
ing the cotton frauds. [1866] 

So many parties, official and unofficial, have been engaged in 
stealing cotton, I fear we can do but little more, in our hurried 
trip than to get on their tracks. It is clear to my mind that the 
Government owes it to its own character to ferret out some of 
the principal thieves and pursue them to conviction and punish- 
ment. A single word on another point: The time has arrived, 
as I think, when this Cotton business should be wound up and 
the entire lot of cotton agents withdrawn from the South. The 
subordinates under the principal agents are roving over the 
country and harassing the people without any corresponding 
benefit to the national treasury. In many instances the Govern- 
ment loses in money and loses in character by their operations. 
Upon all these matters Mr. Chandler and I will either report 
to you verbally or in writing. 



30 Documentary History of Reconstruction 



Methods of the Treasury Agents 

Report of Joint Committee on Reconstruction, part iv, p. 157. State- 
ment of T. J. Mackay, U. S. provost marshal in Louisiana. [1866] 

After the arrival of the officials of the Treasury^ Department 
In western Louisiana I heard frequent complaints made of their 
exactions. At first I did not credit those complaints, as the 
office is essentially an odious one. Upon further and dili- 
gent Inquiry I ascertained that it was the common practice 
of the agents of the Treasury Department to seize cotton on 
the pretext that It belonged to the late Confederate States; to 
refuse to give the party who owned the cotton a paper desig- 
nating the weights of the bales, and consequently return to the 
claimant the same num^ber of bales taken from him, after 
abstracting from them the third or half of the cotton. In other 
cases the Treasury agents would refuse to respect the permits 
given by their predecessors to ship cotton, but exact bribes 
before they would permit it to be shipped. In other cases 
they would refuse to give any permits whatever to ship cotton, 
but employed certain parties to buy it at a reduced price. For 
instance on the third of April last [1866] Mrs. Boyce, of Red 
River county, Texas, sold her four hundred bales of cotton 
for seventy-five dollars a bale — cotton she had raised since 
the surrender. She sold It at that price because it had been 
seized by a Treasury agent, and she could not sell it otherwise 
. . two hundred dollars a bale was the market price. In an- 
other case, within the past four weeks, in Natchitoches Parish, 
Louisiana, a Treasury agent has been running a large steamer 
up and down the Red river, and refusing to give parties permits 
to ship cotton upon any other steamer than that one, although 
the law requires the agent to remain In his office and give per- 
mits to all parties where there Is no evidence or ground of 
suspicion against the cotton. By this course he forces parties 
to ship their cotton on that steamer at a charge of five and six 
dollars a bale, while other steamers charge but three or four 
dollars. These acts are performed for the private advantage 
of the agent, and to the injun,^ of the gov-ernment, because the 



Confiscation Frauds 31 



citizen refers the oppressive act to the government, and not to 
the unfaithful agent. And it becomes the pretext for turbu- 
lence and disorder. 



"Mere Rogues and Fortune Hunters" 

J. T. Trowbridge, The South, p. 567. Trowbridge, the well known New 
England author, visited in 1865 all the Southern States except 
Texas. [1865] 

Much ill-feeling had been kept alive by the United States 
Treasury agents, searching the country for Confederate cotton 
and branded mules and horses. Many of these agents, . . 
were mere rogues and fortune-hunters. They would propose 
to seize a man's property in the name of the United States, 
but abandon the claim on the payment of heavy bribes, which 
of course went into their own pockets. Sometimes, having 
seized "C. S. A." cotton, they would have the marks on the 
bales changed, get some man to claim it, and divide with him 
the profits. Such practices had a pernicious effect, engendering 
a contempt for the government, and a murderous ill-will which 
too commonly vented itself upon soldiers and negroes. 

To the Victors the Spoils 

Whitelaw Reid, After the War, pp. 30, 46, 48". [1865] 

The practice of regarding everything left in the country as the 
legitimate prize to the first officer who discovers it, has led, in 
some cases, to performances little creditable to the national 
uniform. What shall be thought of the officer who, finding a fine 
law library, straightway packed it up and sent it to his office 
in the North? Or what shall be said of the taste of that other 
officer who, finding in an old country residence a series of family 
portraits, imagined that they would form very pretty parlor 
ornaments anywhere, and sent the entire set, embracing the 
ancestors of the haughty old South Carolinian for generations 
back, to look down from the walls of his Yankee residence? . . 
Every Northern man in Wilmington lives in the very best 
style the place affords, no matter how slender his visible re- 
sources. I was the guest of a civil officer whose salary cannot 



32 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

be over two thousand dollars. His home was a spacious three- 
story double structure, that would have done no discredit to 
Fifth Avenue. You approach It through a profusion of the 
rarest shrubbery; it was in the most aristocratic quarter of the 
city, was elegantly furnished, and filled with servants — all on 
two thousand dollars a year, less the Government tax. But 
this is modest and moderate. The officer at least made the one 
house serve all his purposes. Another — a colonel on duty here 
— is less easily satisfied. He has no family, but he finds one of 
the largest and best furnished double houses in the town only 
sufficient for his bachelor wants, as a private residence. An- 
other house, equally spacious and eligible, is required for the 
use of his offixe ! And, in general, our people seem to go 
upon the theory that, having conquered the country, they are 
entitled to the best it has, and In duty bound to use as much of 
It as possible. . . The hotel keeper, for example, has returned. 
He finds here a yankee, who, seeing the house deserted when 
we occupied the city, and being told by the officials that they 
wanted a hotel, determined to keep it. The yankee has paid 
no rent; he has been at no expense, and he has made a sum 
reckoned at over a hundred thousand dollars, by keeping his 
hotel and a little cotton planting which he was able to combine 
with it. Naturally he is in no haste to give up his rent-free 
establishm.ent, and the Rebel owner has the satisfaction of con- 
templating the Yankee in possession, and calculating the profits 
which might have gone into his ovvii pockets but for the frantic 
determination, four years ago, never to submit to the tyrannical 
rule of the Illinois gorilla. Returning merchants find sutlers 
behind their counters, reckoning up gains such as the old busi- 
ness men of New Bern never dreamed of; all branches of trade 
are in the hands of Northern speculators, who followed the 
army; half the residences are filled with army officers, or oc- 
cupied by Government civil officials, or used for negro schools, 
or rented out as "abandoned property." 



Confiscation Frauds 33 



"Peculation, Robbing, Intrigue, Plunder" 

House Ex. Doc. no. 07, 39 Cong., 2 Sess., p. 5. Report of Hugh McCul- 
loch, Secretary of the Treasury. [1865] 

Contractors, anxious for gain, were sometimes guilty of bad 
faith and peculation, and frequently took possession of cotton 
and delivered it under contracts as captured or abandoned, 
when In fact It was not such, and they had no right to touch 
It under their contracts or under the acts of Congress. Resi- 
dents and others In the districts where these peculations were 
going on took advantage of the unsettled condition of the 
country, and representing themselves as agents of this depart- 
ment, went about robbing under such pretended authority, and 
thus added to the difficulties of the situation by causing unjust 
opprobrium and suspicion to rest upon officers engaged In the 
faithful discharge of their duties. Agents . . . frequently 
received or collected property, and sent it forward, which the 
law did not authorize them to take. . . Lawless men, singly 
and in organized bands, engaged In general plunder; every 
species of Intrigue and peculation and theft were resorted to. 



4. THE COTTON TAX 



The Injustice of the Tax 

Senate Misc. Doc. no. 109, 39 Cong.. 1 Bess. The following Memorial 
of the New York Chamber of Commerce to Congress summarizes the 
iSouthern objections to the cotton tax. [May 15, 1866] 

If measures are to be adopted affecting the industries of a 
large section and of a numerous people, these measures should 
be characterized by a spirit of generosity, which will take the 
sting from the declaration that "taxation without representa- 
tion is tyranny." It should appear in after years, when pros- 
perity in the south takes the place of present adversity, and 
fraternal relations are again restored in and out of Congress, 
that in the days of her weakness the north and west did not 
take undue advantage of the south, discriminating against her 
industry, and imposing burdens too heavy to be borne ; but, on 
the contrary, that a spirit of magnanimity ruled in the councils 
of the nation, disposing our legislators to deal generously Vv^lth 
the people of the south, thus to aid in restoring them from a 
state of weakness to a condition of strength. . . 

At this very time, when [the Southern farmer] is 
struggling for existence, a tax of five cents per pound is pro- 
posed, which being practically an export duty, is equivalent to 
charging him with that amount for the purpose of paying it 
over to the cultivators of India, Egypt, and Brazil. And still 
it Is expected he Is to compete successfully with those growers. 

There Is In these and other modifications suggested In the 
existing law a want of impartiality which. In the judgment of 
the committee. Is calculated to provoke hostility at the south, 
and to excite In all honest minds at the north the hope that such 
a purpose will not prevail. It Is not as though the people of 
the south were prepared to enter Into competition with the 
manufacturers of the north for the benefit to be conferred 
through the payment of the proposed bounty on cotton goods 
exported. They are not and cannot be for years to come; and 
the Imposition of a discrlm.inating tax which tends to make the 

34 



The Cotton Tax 35 



rich of the north richer and the poor of the south poorer 
operates as a discouragement to those who, with heav-y hearts 
but honest endeavor, strive to regain their lost fortunes. 

The Committee feel that it would be wiser and better to lift 
up those who are now cast down, and by just and generous 
legislation to inspire the southern people with hope of better 
days rather than by an opposite course to prolong the era of 
political and commercial distrust. 



A Petition for Relief 

Acts of Alabama, 1S72, p. 455. Resolutions passed by a Reconstruc- 
tionist legislature. [18&5-18&8] 

The tax upon cotton levied and collected by the government of 
the United States during the years 1865, 1866 and 1867 was 
in our judgment most unjust and oppressive to the people of 
the cotton growing States, in that it was a direct tax upon 
industry, and imposed upon them at a time when they were 
prostrated and impoverished by war and the attendant conse- 
quences; . . we believe the refunding of this tax, an unequal 
tax, levied as it was on the industry of a majority of the States, 
to be only a matter of even-handed but tardy justice to those 
with whom the people of this State are identified, as well by 
ties of blood as common interest. 



THE SOUTHERN UNIONIST PROBLEM 



Sentiments of a Unionist 

Johnson MSS. M. — Le B — to Andrew Johnson. [October 1, 1865] 
Having watched with the most intense interest, your course in 
regard to two of Satan's ambassadors to earth, Robert E. Lee 
and Jefferson Davis, and being very much dissatisfied with the 
disposition made of the former, / have concluded to tell you 
what to do. Aren't you ashamed to give Lee the privilege of 
being a President of a college? Satan wouldn't have h:ni to 
open the door for fresh arrivals, and you have pardoned him, 
and allowed him to take a position of the greatest responsibility. 
I hope you may have cause to repent that act in sackcloth and 
ashes. May the spirits of the dead heroes of America haunt 
you ever as a punishment for the cowardly neglect of duty. If 
you do not have Jeff. Davis hanged, may the anathemas of a 
Nation rest upon you ! You remember how you spoke to that 
traitor in the Senate. Dare you fulfill that threat ? The eyes 
of the world are upon vou — it is yours to write your name upon 
the hearts of the million or cover it with the deepest infamy. 
Dare to do right and avoid being hissed through the world as a 
man destitute of moral courage. I have said what I desired 
to say. If 3'Ou do not do your duty you will be tormented 
through a never ending eternity by lost souls of your Southern 
friends. 



Proscription of Unionists in Tennessee 

Report of Joint Committee on Reconstruction, part i, pp. 92, 109. 
Unionist statements. [1865] 

The predominant feeling of those lately in rebellion is that of 
deep-seated hatred, amounting in many cases to a spirit of 
revenge towards the white Unionists of the State, and a haughty 
contempt for the negro, whom they cannot treat as a freeman. 
The hatred for the white loyalists is intensified by the accusa- 
tion that he deserted the South in her extremity, and is, there- 

36 



The Southern Unionist Problem 37 



fore, a traitor, and by the setting up a government of the 
minority. The spirit of revenge is called forth by the attempt 
to disfranchise them, and by the retaliatory acts of the returned 
soldiers for wrongs done them during the war. . . 

The tourist would not be apt to detect the true state of the 
southern temper. Even the resident observer has to look 
beneath the surface of insincere protestations of loyalty. True, 
the traveller or visitor might observe a large number of daily 
rebel newspapers well sustained, while a single loyal paper is 
sustained with difficulty. He might discover that the rebel 
merchant or lawyer is full of business and growing rich, while 
the loyalist either fails, or is driven to pander and dissimulate. 
And he may find that the rebel chaplain preaches to overflowing 
houses, while the loyal minister is in truth a missionary in an 
unfriendly country. But he will hardly go into the social circle 
to learn that the Union man is not admitted into society, or into 
private families, to find that hatred of the Yankee and con- 
tempt for the government are inculcated by rebel ministers and 
teachers; nor will he visit the township election to learn that the 
bushwhacker and guerilla can defeat the most respectable Union 
man for constable or justice of the peace; or to the courts, to 
learn that the despised "Lincolnite" fails to get justice at the 
hands of a rebel jury. . . 

A party exists in the State, which is every day becoming 
more and more compact and powerful, which sympathizes with 
the men and principles of the rebellion. It commands every 
agency to operate upon public opinion. It has five well-sus- 
tained and ably-edited daily papers in Memphis, four in Nash- 
ville, and one in Knoxville, and a weekly in each of the import- 
ant villages. Their pardoned but talented and still popular 
leaders are still with them. Hundreds of rebel ministers who 
glory in having led off in the rebellion, and who have been 
throughout the war the bloodiest-minded men in the south, are 
still In the confidence of their people. All these mould public 
sentiment as they please, and command a party of over two- 
thirds of the white men of the State. Free from restrictions 
upon suffrage, they will probably cast 90,000 votes. . . 



38 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

It is a sad delusion and a dangerous mistake to suppose that 
this hatred of loyalty, contempt for the negro, and alienation 
from the government, are confined to the politicians, or leaders 
as they are termed, and that the common people have been all 
the time loyal. It is certainly true that a portion of the south- 
ern people went into the rebellion reluctantly, and that a few 
were actually forced into it. But it is equally true that nine- 
tenths of those who went in reluctantly came out the bitterest of 
rebels. . . Long before the war the common laborer had learned 
to curse the Yankees and abolitionists. . . Filled with murder- 
ous hate, they have fought four years against their country. 
They have denounced and heard it denounced with every 
breath. They have suffered cold, hunger, and wounds in an 
effort to destroy it. They have slain its defenders, and seen 
their comrades fall in the same cause. The laws of human 
nature forbid the idea that they love their country. Indeed, it 
may well be doubted whether the capacity for patriotism is not 
extinguished in many of them. 

[Statement of Gen. George H. Thomas]. Middle Tennes- 
see is disturbed by personal animosities and hatreds, much more 
than it is by the disloyalt^^ of persons towards the government 
of the United States. Those personal animosities would break 
out and overawe the civil authorities, but for the presence there 
of the troops of the United States. In West Tennessee these 
personal animosities exist even m.ore strongly than they do in 
Middle Tennessee, and there is less loyalty in West Tennessee 
than there is in Middle Tennessee. But the people of Ten- 
nessee desire very much, it is their strongest desire, to be back 
in the government of the United States. Still, while they wish 
to enjoy the rights of citizenship, they are not friendly towards 
Union men, particularly men from Tennessee who have been 
in the Union army. They are more unfriendly to Union men, 
natives of the State of Tennessee, or of the south, who have 
been in the Union army, than they are to men of northern birth. 



The Southern Unionist Problem 39 

John Minor Botts on the Southern Situation 

Report of Joint Committee on Reconstruction, part ii, p. 120. Botts 
was a noted Unionist of Virginia. [1866] 

At the time of the surrender of General Lee's army and the 
restoration of peace I think there was, not only a general but 
an almost universal, acquiescence and congratulation among the 
people that the war had terminated, and a large majority of 
them were at least contented. . . But from the time that Mr. 
Johnson commenced his indiscriminate system of pardoning all 
who made application, . . they became bold, insolent, and 
defiant; and this was increased to a very large extent by the 
permission which was, immediately after the evacuation of 
Richmond, given by General Patrick, the democratic copper- 
head provost marshal of the army of the Potomac, to the 
original conductors of the public press before the rebellion to 
re-establish their papers, . . v/ithout restriction or limitation; 
. . since which time, . . the spirit of disloyalty and disaffection 
has gone on increasing day by day, and hour by hour, until 
among the leaders generally there is as much disaffection and 
disloyalty as there was any time during the war, and a hun- 
dredfold more than there was immediately after the evacuation 
and the surrender of the army. This is the conclusion to which 
my mind has been brought by the licentiousness of the press, 
and by communications which are made to me from all parts 
of the state, either verbally or by letter, from the most promin- 
ent and reliable Union sources. If I were to judge from any- 
thing I have ever heard personally from these gentlemen, I 
should not think there was any very great difference between 
their loyalty and yours or m/me ; but I hear of it elsewhere, and I 
see evidence of it daily, not only in the public press, but in the 
proceedings of the so-called legislature of the State. . . I give 
you the following extract of a letter from a prominent Union 
man of the State : . . 

"I have no hopes of future loyalty unless the President and 
Congress can relieve the masses of the political incubus now 
weighing them to the ground. Hour after hour the democracy 
here are becoming more bold, more insolent, more proscriptlve. 



40 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

Was the war In all its horrid consequences designed to establish 
a democratic oligarchy here in the south and eventually turn 
over the general government with all its patronage and power 
to this pack of bloodhounds? Or was It designed to preserve 
the Union, maintain liberty, and v/ipe out forever all sectional 
parties? If for the former, then the prevailing policy will 
soon effect it; and when it does, I pray that God will cause a 
universal earthquake and blot out that portion of his footstool 
comprised within the United States. Under democratic rule 
again, hell would be a garden of Eden compared to the South- 
ern States, and I should assuredly select it as a permanent place 
of abode If forced to choose between the two." 



Treatment of the "Truly Loyal" 

Report of Joint Committee on Reconstruction, part iii, p. 11. Tes- 
timony of William H. Smith, of Alabama, wlio opposed secession, be- 
came a Confederate judge, and later deserted. First "scalawag" 
governor of Alabama. [1866] 

I WAS originally a Union man, and refused to take any part in 
the rebellion; stood out against it until I was compelled to leave 
home. . . [The Southern people] manifest the most perfect 
contempt for a man who Is known to be an unequivocal Union 
man; call him a "galvanized yankee," ^ and apply other terms 
and epithets to him. In travelling on the cars you can hear 
such language used every day by people; or I can where I am 
not known. Where I am known personally they avoid the 
use of such language, generally; but I very frequently hear it 
where I am not known. 



Persecution of Confederates by Unionists 

J. T. Trowbridge, The South, p. 240. [1865] 

I WAS sorry to find the fires of these old feuds still burning [In 
Tennessee]'. The State Government was In the hands of 
Union men, and Rebels and refugees from the Union army 
were disfranchised. Secessionists, who assisted at the hanging 



1. The term "galvanized yankee" was applied to a Confederate who went over to the 
other side. 



The Southern Unionist Problem 41 

and robbing of Union men, and burned their houses, were 
receiving just punishment for their crimes in the civil courts 
and at the hands of the sheriff. This was well; and it should 
have been enough. But those who had suffered so long and 
so cruelly at the hands of their enemies did not think so. Re- 
turning Rebels were robbed; and If one had stolen back una- 
wares to his home, it was not safe for him to remain there. I 
saw in Virginia one of these exiles, who told me how homeslckly 
he pined for the hills and meadows of East Tennessee, which 
he thought the most delightful region in the world. But there 
was a rope hanging from a tree for him there, and he dared 
not go back. "The bottom rails are on top," said he: "that is 
the trouble." The Union element, and the worst part of the 
Union element, was uppermost. There was some truth In this 
statement. It was not the respectable farming class, but the 
roughs, who kept the old fires blazing. Many secessionists 
and Union men, who had been neighbors before the war, were 
living side by side again, in as friendly relations as ever. 



Time the Only Cure 

Report of Joint Committee on Reconstruction, part ii, p. 93. Tes- 
timony of Robert MicCiirdy, a Unionist clergyman, then in Vir- 
ginia. [186-5] 

If they could secure their Independence, I do not think there 
is any doubt at all about the course they would take. I think 
they would do anything in the world by which that could be 
secured. I do not think, however, that the southern people 
have any idea that there Is any possibility, even the remotest, of 
anything occurring through which they can do anything but 
submit. I think it is universally the feeling that there is no 
hope and no help for them In this regard. Physically, they are 
perfectly humbled. It Is Impossible to make their physical 
humiliation more complete than it Is. A lady recently remark- 
ed to a friend of mine, "You cannot expect us to treat the north- 
ern people well who come here, or to have any Intercourse with 
them. They have humiliated us, and we cannot buy, or sell, 
or have any intercourse with them." I can see no hope of an 



42 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

improvement in that respect except by the gradual operation of 
those causes which are above all opposition — commercial 
causes, the operation of trade, the demand for capital to come 
from the north, the emigration of persons from the north 
moving southward, the moving of southern people to distant 
points and colonizing and getting into new scenes and under 
new circumstances. I look for the gradual operation of these 
causes. I do not see why the south should witness any different 
results than those which Italy witnessed in the case of her 
northern conquerors, and which England witnessed in the case 
of the Normans. . . The people of the south esteem themselves 
a superior people. Northern men going among them with 
more activity, more business relations, with less luxury, will 
control in some departments; and there will be dissimilarity 
until time and the various causes, that are operating in spite of 
everything, produce homogeneity. There is no miracle to be 
wrought in this case. Time and nature's laws, not mere legis- 
lation of any kind, can effect it. There must be patient wait- 
ing. If I were a secessionist; if I had gone with the people of 
the south; if I had taken the same view of matters which they 
took; if my judgment, conviction, and conscience had not been 
all against them; if my church education and my education by 
my forefathers had not influenced me against them ; if, in short, 
I had taken the course they adopted, I would do just precisely 
as they are doing; if it were a matter of principle, I should, of 
course, abide by the principle, and should esteem it something 
more than even dollars and cents, and political power, and 
home, and everything else. . . 

All they can effect politically, socially, and ecclesiastically, 
they will. They have no more use for bullets. They hence- 
forth use the social, the ecclesiastical, and the political ballot. 



6. NORTHERN MEN IN THE SOUTH 



Feeling toward Northern People 

Senate Ex. Doc. no. '2, 39 Cong., 1 Sess., p. 7. From Report of Carl 
Schurz to President Jobnson. [1865] 

But no instance has come to my notice in which the people of 
a city or a rural district cordially fraternized with the army. 
Here and there the soldiers were welcomed as protectors against 
apprehended dangers; but general exhibitions of cordiality on 
the part of the population I have not heard of. There are, 
indeed, honorable individual exceptions to this rule. Many 
persons . . are honestly striving to soften down the bitter 
feelings and traditional antipathies of their neighbors; others, 
who are acting more upon motives of policy than inclination, 
maintain pleasant relations with the officers of the government. 
But, upon the whole, the soldier of the Union is still looked 
upon as a stranger, an intruder — as the "Yankee," "the ene- 
my." . . The existence and intensity of this aversion is too well 
known to those who have served or are now serving in the 
south to require proof. . . 

This feeling of aversion and resentment with regard to our 
soldiers may, perhaps, be called natural. The animosities in- 
flamed by a four years' war, and its distressing incidents, can- 
not be easily overcome. But they extend beyond the limits 
of the army, to the people of the north. I have read in south- 
ern papers bitter complaints about the unfriendly spirit exhibited 
by the northern people. . . But, as far as my experience goes, 
the "unfriendly spirit" exhibited in the north is all mildness 
and affection compared with the popular temper which in the 
south vents itself in a variety of ways and on all possible 
occasions. No observing northern man can come into contact 
with the different classes composing southern society without 
noticing it. He may be received in social circles with great 
politeness, even with apparent cordiality; but soon he will 
become aware that, although he may be esteemed as a man, he is 
detested as a "Yankee," . . the word "Yankee" still signifies 

43 



44 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

to them those traits of character which the southern press has 
been so long in the habit of attributing to northern people; 
and whenever they look around them upon the traces of the 
war, they see In them not the consequences of their own folly, 
but the evidence of "Yankee wickedness." . . 



Treatment of Northern Men 

Senate Ex. Doc. no. .'/.S, 39 Cong., 1 Sess. Report of B. C. Ti'uman to 
the President. Truman was a New Englander who served during 
the war as a staff officer. After the war he was one of the President's 
secretaries and was sent to investigate conditions in the South. [1866] 

There is a prevalent disposition not to associate too freely 
with northern men, or to receive them into the circles of society; 
but it is far from insurmountable. Over southern society, as 
over every other, woman reigns supreme, and they are more 
imbittered against those whom they deem the authors of all 
their calamities than are their brothers, sons and husbands. 
It is a noteworthy ethnological fact, and one I hav^e often ob- 
served, that of the younger generation the southern women 
are much superior to the southern men both in intellect and 
energy; and their ascendency over society is correspondingly 
great. However this disparity is to be accounted for, whether 
by the enormous wastage of the war among the males, or other- 
wise, it nevertheless exists, and to its existence is greatly due 
the exclusiveness of southern society. 

But the stories and rumors to the effect that northern men 
are bitterly persecuted and compelled to abandon the country, I 
pronounce false. If northern men go south they must expect 
for a while to be treated with neglect, and sometimes with 
contempt; but if they refrain from bitter political discussions, 
and conduct themselves with ordinary discretion, they soon 
overcome these prejudices and are treated with respect. The 
accounts that are from time to time flooded over the country 
In regard to southern cruelty and intolerance toward northern- 
ers are mostly false. I could select many districts, however, 
particularly In northern Texas and portions of Mississippi, 
where the northern men could not at present live with any 



Northern Men in the South 45 

degree of self-respect. There are also localities In many of 
the southern States where it would be dangerous for a northern 
man to live, but they are exceptional, and are about equally 
unsafe for any man who possesses attractive property. For 
some unknown cause a large number of persons are engaged 
In writing and circulating falsehoods. For some unpatriotic 
purpose or other, reports of an incendiary character concern- 
ing the southern people are transmitted north. To learn the 
falseness of these reports one needs only to obtain the facts. 
I am personally acquainted with most of the officers of a 
hundred-odd regiments of volunteers, and out of these I could 
name thirty regiments one-half of whose officers and many of 
the men have returned to the south, and as many more that 
have left large numbers there upon being disbanded. Hun- 
dreds, . . of the officers of colored regiments — the most 
offensive to the south — have remained there and entered Into 
business. . . Large numbers of ex-federal and ex-confederate 
officers are engaged together in mercantile pursuits and in 
cotton-planting. Nearly all of the cotton plantations In 
Florida are being run by such parties. The banks of the 
Mississippi are lined with plantations which have been leased 
by northern men and federal officers. Arkansas and White 
river plantations are generally being run by officers who have 
served under General Reynolds, while a large number of the 
Red river plantations have been placed under cultivation by 
ex-officers of General A. J. Smith's command. Fourteen offi- 
cers of a colored (Kentucky) regiment are engaged In planting 
and raising cotton near Victoria, Texas. The First National 
Bank of Texas, at Galveston, has for president ex-Major Gen- 
eral Nichols, of the late confederate army, and ten of Its 
directors are also ex-rebel officers, while the cashier Is ex-Major 
General Clark, of the Union army, and who formerly com- 
manded a division of colored troops. In all of these connec- 
tions the utmost harmony prevails. Notwithstanding the 
above facts — and I could multiply them — I maintain that in 
many sections of the south there is a wide-spread hostility to 
northern men, which, however, in nine cases out of ten, Is 



46 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

speedily dispelled by individual contact, and the exercise of a 
generous regard for private opinions. . . All who can be 
spared from the industry of the north to go south can readily 
find places of business where they can live in quiet and pros- 
perity. 



7- THE GARRISONS 



Negro Troops in South Carolina 

Annual Cyclopedia, ISGo, p. 759. Governor Perry's address to the 
South Carolina Convention. [18'65] 

It is a source of congratulation to know that the colored troops 
whose atrocious conduct has ciisgraced the service and filled 
the public mind with the most horrible apprehensions, have 
been withdrawn from the interior of the State, and are to be 
placed in garrisons on the coast, where they can do no further 
mischief. , . The white troops are, . . doing their duty bene- 
ficially to the country, in preserving the peace and good order 
of the State. It is thought that their presence among us for 
sometime yet will be necessary, in order to enforce the rela- 
tive duties of the freedmen and their employers. 



"A Horde ol Barbarians" 

MS. Letter. Gen. Wade Hampton to President Johnson. [1866] 

The very first act of peace consisted in pouring into our v/hole 
country a horde of barbarians — your brutal negro troops 
under their no less brutal and more degraded Yankee officers. 
Every license was allowed to these wretches and the grossest 
outrages were committed by them with impunity. Their very 
presence amongst us at such a time was felt as a direct and pre- 
meditated insult to the whole Southern people. Confederate 
soldiers returning home, weary and travel-stained, were seized 
by these negro soldiers, and the buttons of that grey jacket, 
under which was beating as heroic and as patriotic a heart as 
ever gave its all to a bleeding country — were roughly and 
ignominiously torn oft. No armed foe being in the field, the 
great armies of the North waged active and honorable warfare 
against Confederate grey and its brass buttons. Noble occupa- 
tion for brave soldiers — it at least brought them into nearer 
contact with these hated emblems of Southern soldiery than they 

47 



48 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

had ventured to assume during the past four years. These 
proceedings, however, were merely galhng and irritating, not 
calculated perhaps, to conciliate the South, or to evoke "loy- 
alty," brotherly love or intense devotion to the "Stars and 
Stripes." But there were not wanting other and darker feat- 
ures to fill up the gloomy canvass. Let me mention one case, 
not because it was an isolated one, for it was not, but because 
it shows with what perfect impunity the most horrible crimes 
could be and were committed by the black devils who were 
charged with the preservation of peace and the maintenance of 
order in the South. A brave and gallant Confederate soldier, 
whilst walking in the streets of Columbus, Miss., was fired 
at by a Federal soldier. He promptly returned the fire, killing 
the man who so wantonly assailed him. He Vv'as instantly sur- 
rounded by negro soldiers, who beat him severely and Vv-ounded 
him. The Federal officers ordered him taken to a hospital, 
w^hich was done, though he requested to be carried to his own 
home where he could receive the attention he needed. Whilst 
In the hospital, a prisoner guarded by Federal soldiers, Jie \vas 
bayonetted to death. 



"Outrageous Exercise of Tyranny" 

Reid, After the "IVar, p. 422. Quoted from a New Orleans newspaper. 

[1865] 

Our citizens who had been accustomed to meet and treat the 
negroes only as respectful servants, were mortified, pained, 
and shocked to encounter them in towns and villages, and on 
the public roads, by scores and hundreds and thousands, Vvcar- 
Ing Federal uniforms, and bearing bright muskets and gleam- 
ing bayonets. They often recognized among them those who 
had once been their own servants. They were jostled from 
the side-walks by dusky guards, marching four abreast. They 
w^ere halted, in rude and sullen tones by negro sentinels, in 
strong contrast with the kind and fraternal hail of the old 
sentinels in threadbare gray or dilapidated homespun. The 
ladies of villages so guarded ceased to appear on the streets, 
and it was with much reluctance that the citizens of the sur- 



The Garrisons 49 



rounding country went to town on imperative errands. All 
felt the quartering of negro guards among them to be a delib- 
erate, wanton, cruel act of insult and oppression. Their hearts 
sickened under what they deemed an outrageous exercise of 
tyranny. They would have received white troops, not indeed 
with rejoicing, but with kindness, satisfaction and respect; but 
when they saw their own slaves freed, armed, and put on 
guard over them, they treated all hope of Federal magnanim- 
ity or justice as an idle dream. 



"A Constant Source of Irritation" 

Acts of AlaM^na, 1865-66, p. 602. Memorial of Alabama legislature 
to the President. [January 16, 1866] 

The continued presence of the troops of the Federal army, 
however orderly and respectful in their deportment, is a con- 
stant source of irritation to the people , . and has doubtless 
provoked at wirious times unpleasant collisions, . . The recur- 
rence of this evil may be safely anticipated as long as the Fed- 
eral garrisons are quartered among us. Many of these troops 
are either garrisoned, or occasionally quartered, In neighbor- 
hoods and localities remote from safe lines of transportation, 
and are therefore comipelled to subsist their stock upon the 
country. In consequence of an unprecedented scarcity of pro- 
visions, and the amount of indigence and destitution which must 
necessarily be provided for, an extreme hardship Is thereby 
Imposed upon the people. The freedmen of the State, the 
great majority of whom are under contracts for labor for the 
present year, yielding to the natural credulity characteristic of 
the race, cherish the belief that their idleness, violation of 
contracts, and insubordination are indirectly countenanced by 
the soldiers, and more especially by the colored portions of 
them. A vague and indefinite Idea pervades the masses of 
freedmen, that at the expiration of the present year a general 
division of property v.'Ill be made among them. It Is believed 
that this state of mind is produced by their frequent intercourse 
and association with the colored troops. . . While this ground- 



50 Documentary History of Reconstruction 



less and ridiculous delusion continues, the agricultural and in- 
dustrial interests of the State must suffer, while at the same 
time the evils and horrors of domestic insurrection may be 
reasonably anticipated. 



8. THE TEMPER OF THE SOUTHERN WHITES 



Desire for Peace and Reunion 

Johnson MSS., H. M. Watterson to President Johnson. Dispatch No. 
10. [October 30, 1865] 

History records no such a spectacle as Is now exhibited in the 
Southern States. After a four years war, which was inaug- 
urated for the purpose of cutting loose from the Government 
established by their fathers, the Southern people have sud- 
denly laid down their arms and given unmistakable evidence 
of a determination to renew in good faith their former rela- 
tions. . . The voice of every good man, within the eleven 
states lately in rebellion, is raised in behalf of peace and reunion 
under the Stars and Stripes. This fact is manifest to all, 
whether citizens or soldiers, who desire to know and proclaim 
the truth. The man who gainsays it, either knows not what 
he is talking about, or he has some selfish purpose to accom- 
plish by wilful misrepresentation. 

Gen. Steadman has been here, and he authorized me to 
say to the President . . that, in his judgment, the necessity for 
military rule in Georgia has passed and so soon as civil gov- 
ernment is re-established in the State the troops ought to be 
withdrawn. 



General Grant's Observations 

f'enate E.r. Doc. no. 2, S9 Cong.. 1 Sess.. p. 107. General Grant to 
President Johnson, after a trip in the South. [December 18, 1865] 

I AM satisfied that the mass of thinking men of the south ac- 
cept the present situation of affairs in good faith. The ques- 
tion which has heretofore divided the sentiment of the people 
of the two sections — Slavery and State rights, or the right of 
a State to secede from the Union — they regard as having 
been settled forever by the highest tribunal — arms — that 
man can resort to. I was pleased to learn from the leading 
men whom I met that they not only accepted the decision ar- 

51 



52 Documentary History of Reconstruction 



rived at as final, but, now that the smoke of the battle was 
cleared away and time has been given for reflection, that this 
decision has been a fortunate one for the whole country, they 
receiving like benefits from it with those who opposed them in 
the field and in council. 

Four years of war, during which law was executed only at 
the point of the bayonet throughout the States in rebellion, 
have left the people possibly in a condition not to yield that 
ready obedience to civil authority the American people have 
generally been in the habit of yielding. This would render 
the presence of small garrisons throughout these States nec- 
essary until such time as labor returns to its proper channel, 
and civil authority' is fully established. I did not meet any 
one, either those holding place under the government or citi- 
zens of the southern States, who think it practicable to with- 
draw the military from the South at present. The white and 
the black mutually require the protection of the general gov- 
ernment. 

There is such universal acquiescence in the authority of the 
general government throughout the portions of country vis- 
ited by me, that the mere presence of a military force, without 
regard to numbers, is sufficient to maintain order. The good 
of the country, and economy, require that the force kept in 
the interior, where there are many freedmen, (elsewhere in 
the southern States than at forts upon the seacoast no force is 
necessary,) should all be white troops. The reasons for this 
are obvious without mentioning many of them. The presence 
of black troops, lately slaves, demoralizes labor, both by their 
advice and by furnishing in their camps a resort for the freed- 
men for long distances around. White troops generally ex- 
cite no opposition, and therefore a small number of them can 
maintain order in a given district. Colored troops must be 
kept in bodies sufficient to defend themselves. It is not the 
thinking men who would use violence toward any class of 
troops sent among them by the general government, but the 
ignorant in some places might; and the late slave seems to be 
imbued with the idea that the property of his late master 



The Temper of the Southern Whites 53 

should, by right, belong to him, or at least should have no pro- 
tection from the colored soldier. There is a danger of col- 
lision being brought on by such causes. 

My observations lead me to the conclusion that the citizens 
of the southern States are anxious to return to self-government, 
within the Union, as soon as possible; that whilst reconstruc- 
ting they want and require protection from the government; 
that they are in earnest In wishing to do what they think is 
required by the government, not humiliating to them as citi- 
zens, and that If such a course were pointed out they would 
pursue it In good faith. It is to be regretted that there can- 
not be a greater commingling, at this time, between the citizens 
of the two sections, and particularly of those Intrusted with 
the law-making pcmer. 



Carl Schurz on Conditions in the South 

Senate Ex. Doc. no. .?. 39 Cong.. 1 Sess., p. 5. From Schurz's report 
to President Johnson. In regard to the Southern question Schurz 
was considered a radical. ^ [1865] 

I MAY group the southern people into four classes, each of 
which exercise an Influence upon the development of things In 
that section : 

1. Those who, although having yielded submission to the 
national government only when obliged to do so, have a clear 
perception of the Irreversible change produced by the war, and 
honestly endeavor to accommodate themselves to the new order 
of things. Many of them are not free from traditional preju- 
dice but open to conviction, and may be expected to act in good 
faith whatever they do. This class Is composed, in its major- 
ity, of persons of mature age — planters, merchants, and pro- 
fessional men; some of them are active In the reconstruction 
movement, but boldness and energy are, with a few individ- 
ual exceptions, not among their distinguishing qualities. 

2. Those whose principal object is to have the States with- 
out delay restored to their position and Influence in the Union 
and the people of the States to the absolute control of their 
home concerns. They are ready, in order to attain that object, 



54 Documentary History of Reconstruction 



to make any ostensible concession that will not prevent them 
from arranging things to suit their taste as soon as that object 
is attained. This class comprises a considerable number, prob- 
ably a large majority, of the professional politicians who are 
extremely active in the reconstruction movement. They are 
loud in their praise of the President's reconstruction policy, 
and clamorous for the withdrawal of the federal troops and 
the abolition of the Freedmen's Bureau. 

3. The incorrigibles, who still indulge in the sv/agger which 
was so customary before and during the war, and still hope 
for a time when the southern confederacy will achieve its inde- 
pendence. This class consists mostly of young men, and com- 
prises the loiterers of the towns and the idlers of the country. 
They persecute Union men and negroes whenever they can 
do so with impunity, insist clamorously upon their "rights," 
and are extremely impatient of the presence of the federal 
soldiers. A good many of them have taken the oaths of 
allegiance and amnesty, and associated themselves with the sec- 
ond class in their political operations. This element is by no 
means unimportant; it is strong in numbers, deals in brave 
talk, addresses itself directly and incessantly to the passions 
and prejudices of the masses, and commands the admiration of 
the women. 

4. The multitude of people have no definite ideas about 
the circumstances under which they live and about the course 
they have to follow ; whose intellects are weak, but whose 
prejudices and impulses are strong, and who are apt to be car- 
ried along by those who know how to appeal to the latter. 

Much depends upon the relation and influence of these 
classes. . . But whatever their differences may be, on one point 
they are agreed: further resistance to the power of the na- 
tional government is useless, and submission to its authority 
a matter of necessity. It is true, the right of secession in 
theory is still believed in by most of those who formerly be- 
lieved in it; some are still entertaining a vague hope of seeing 
it realized at some future time, but all give it up as a practical 
impossibility for the present. All movements in favor of 



The Temper of the Southern Whites 55 

separation from the Union have, therefore, been practically 
abandoned, and resistance to our military forces, on that score, 
has ceased. The demonstrations of hostility to the troops 
and other agents of the government, which are still occurring 
in some localities, and of which I shall speak hereafter, spring 
from another class of motives. This kind of loyalty, however, 
which is produced by the irresistible pressure of force, and con- 
sists merely in the non-commission of acts of rebellion, is of a 
negative character, and might as such, hardly be considered 
independent of circumstances and contingencies. . . 

Treason does, under existing circumstances, not appear 
odious in the south. The people are not impressed with any 
sense of its criminality. . . There is, as yet, among the south- 
ern people an utter absence of national feeling. I made it a 
business, while in the south, to watch the symptoms of "return- 
ing loyalty" as they appeared not only in private conversation, 
but in the public press and in the speeches delivered and the 
resolutions passed at Union meetings. Hardly ever was there 
an expression of hearty attachment to the great republic, or 
an appeal to the impulses of patriotism; but whenever submis- 
sion to the national authority was declared and advocated, it 
was almost uniformly placed upon tw^o principal grounds: 
That under present circumstances, the southern people could 
"do no better;" and then that submission was the only means 
by which they could rid themselves of the federal soldiers and 
obtain once more control of their own affairs. .. . 

One of the greatest drawbacks under which the southern 
people are laboring is, that for fifty years they have been in 
no sympathetic communion with the progressive ideas of the 
times. . . The southern people honestly maintained and be- 
lieved, not only that as a people they were highly civilized, but 
that their civilization was the highest that could be attained, 
and ought to serve as a model to other nations, the world over. 
The more enlightened Individuals among them felt sometimes 
a vague impression of the barrenness of their mental life, and 
the barbarous peculiarities of their social organization; but 
very few ever dared to Investigate and to expose the true cause 



56 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

of these ev'ils. Thus the people were so wrapt up in self- 
admiration as to be inaccessible to the voice even of the best- 
intentioned criticism. Hence the delusion they indulged in 
as to the absolute superiority of their race — a delusion which 
in spite of the severe test it has lately undergone, is not yet 
given up; and will, as every traveller in the South can testify 
from experience, sometimes express itself in singular manifesta- 
tions. This spirit, which for so long a time has kept the 
southern people back while the world besides was moving, is 
even at this moment still standing as a serious obstacle in the 
way of progress. . . 

If nothing were necessary but to restore the machinery of 
government in the States lately in rebellion in point of form, 
the movements made to that end by the people of the South 
might be considered satisfactory. But if it is required that 
the southern people should also accommodate themselves to the 
results of the war in point of spirit, those movements fall far 
short of what must be insisted upon. 

The loyalty of the masses and most of the leaders of the 
southern people, consists in submission to necessity. There 
is, except in individual instances, an entire absence of that 
national spirit which forms the basis of true loyalty and patriot- 
ism. 

The emancipation of the slaves is submitted to only in so 
far as chattel slavery in the old form could not be kept up. 
But although the freedman is no longer considered the property 
of the individual master, he is considered the slave of society, 
and all independent State legislation will share the tendency 
to make him such. . . 

The solution of the problem would be very much facilitated 
by enabling all the loyal and free labor elements in the south 
to exercise a healthy influence upon legislation. It will hardly 
be possible to secure the freedmen against oppressive class 
legislation and private persecution, unless he be endowed with 
a certain measure of political power. . . 

I desire not to be understood as saying that there are no 
well-meaning men among those who were compromised in the 



The Temper of the Southern Whites 57 

rebellion. There are many, but neither their number nor their 
influence is strong enough to control the manifest tendency of 
the popular spirit. There are great reasons for hope that a 
determined policy on the part of the national government will 
produce innumerable and valuable conversions. This consid- 
eration counsels lenity as to persons such as is demanded by 
the humane and enlightened spirit of our times, and vigor and 
firmness in the carrying out of principles, such as is demanded 
by the national sense of justice and the exigencies of our situ- 
ation. 



Popular Sentiment in the South 

Senate Ex. Doc. no. -'/■?. 39 Cong.. 1 Hess., p. 4. Report of B. C. Tru- 
man to President Johnson. [April 9, 1866] 

The opinion has gained wide-spread acceptance in the north, 
through the medium of letter-writers, southern editorials, and 
other vehicles of rumor and information, that the south is 
to-day more disloyal towards the government than at the con- 
clusion of the war. Various reasons are urged to account for 
this, chief among which is that this people have been brought 
to this state by an ill-timed, ill-advised leniency. What are 
the facts? When the war ended, it left the south prostrated, 
stricken, helpless. Even many of the most intelligent looked 
for general confiscation, proscription, and the reign of the 
scaffold; the news of the successive surrender of those armies 
that they had looked upon as standing alone between them- 
selves and the direct calamities of history, threw the minds of 
the people into a state of the most abject terror. For many 
days, and even weeks — so I have been informed — in a thou- 
sand instances, the wretched, frightened women and children, 
deprived of their former protectors, lived in a state of the 
most fearful suspense, in hourly apprehension of the beginning 
of all that their frightful imaginations, and those of their 
editors, had been able to conceive of northern vandalism and 
hideous butchery. The old men and the youths, and even the 
adult citizens, shared largely in this "fearful looking for of 
judgment." . . This feeling, however, almost immediately after 



58 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

passed away, and the continued delay of anticipated retribution 
restored them to their wonted equanimity. Immediately suc- 
ceeding this there sprang up what many conscientious people 
are prone to term an increase of disloyalty. But was it such? 
I give it another solution. What, then, is the sentiment that 
has inspired these noisy and reckless utterances of late, which 
have given so much color to the charge? It is simply the 
returning wave that followed the depression of defeat — 
the inevitable and wholesome reaction from despair. It was 
to have been expected, and in my humble opinion could not 
well have been avoided, and is not indicative of any deep-seated 
malady, but rather the contrary. . . The boisterous dema- 
gogues, and especially the reckless editors, . . were for the 
moment appalled and stricken dumb in the presence of the 
gigantic calamity that had overtaken them, and in the near 
prospect of impending ruin; but soon they became reassured 
by the moderation of the government, and finding their lives 
still in their hands, have not ceased to pour forth those obnox- 
ious utterances which are taken as evidence and proof of an 
increase of disloyalty. It is with diffidence, that I venture to 
dissent from the published opinions of many distinguished wit- 
nesses who have taken this view, but I am free to declare my 
firm conviction that it is altogether superficial and not founded 
in fact. 

It is my belief that the south — the great, substantial, and 
prevailing element — is more loyal now than it was at the end 
of the war — more loyal to-day than yesterday, and that it will 
be more loyal to-morrow than to-day. . . Just as certainly as 
for four years the mass of popular sentiment in the south was 
slowly solidifying and strengthening in favor of the bogus con- 
federacy, just so certain it is that from the date of its down- 
fall that opinion has been slowly returning to its old attach- 
ments. For many years the dream of independence had been 
increasingly cherished and nurtured in the breasts of thousands; 
for four years that dream was a living fact, penetrating the 
consciousness of all, and receiving the sympathies of scarcely 
less than all; and then came the sudden and appalling crash 



The Temper of the Southern Whites 59 

— the awakening from this dream to the unwelcome but inex- 
orable truth that the pleasing vision had vanished. As weeks, 
months, and years steadily accumulate, and the remembrances 
of that brief happiness vanish in the distance, the yearning for 
it will grow weak and inconstant. That dream will never be 
revived, in my opinion — never; and if I am satisfied of any- 
thing in relation to the south, it is that the great majoritv of its 
leading men have forever renounced all expectations of a sep- 
arate nationality. 



Historical Societies and Rebellion 

Report of Joint Comviittee on Reconstruction, part iii, p. 123. 
Statement of General B. H. Grierson, U. S. Army. [1866] 

I BELIEVE that there is an organization existing now through- 
out the south for the renewal of the rebellion. Many circum- 
stances or things which have occurred since the surrender make 
me believe so. I have a statement from a reliable man that 
one of the present State representatives of Alabama said that 
an organization did exist throughout the whole south for that 
purpose, and I learned from other parties that the "Historical 
Society" has something to do with it. You may have observed 
notices of very large attendances at Historical Society meet- 
ings in Georgia and Alabama. 



The Deceitful Southerners 

Report of Joint Committee on Reconstj-uction, part iv, p. 5. State- 
ment of a Northern government oflacial in Florida. [1866] 

The only way for this government to make these people its 
friends is just to keep them down. They have more respect 
for a man who goes there and shows decision than they do for 
one who is wavering. . . I would pin them down at the point 
of the bayonet so close that they would not have room to wig- 
gle, and allow intelligent colored people to go up and vote in 
preference to them. The only Union element in the south 
proper, among the original inhabitants, is among the colored 
people. The whites will treat you very kindly to your face, 



6o Documentary History of Reconstruction 

but they are deceitful. I have often thought, and so expressed 
myself, that there is so much deception among the people of 
the south since the rebellion, that if an earthquake should open 
and swallow them up, I was fearful the devil would be de- 
throned and some of them take his place. 



Good Advice to the Southern People 

Anmial Cyclopedia. 1866. p. 326. Address to the People by Governor 
D. S. Walker of Florida. [1866] 

Let us constantly remember that every lawless act any indi- 
vidual in our State may commit, and every indiscreet expres- 
sion that may be uttered, is immediately exaggerated and pub- 
lished broadcast over the Northern States with the view of 
making it appear that the President is wrong and his enemies 
are right. , . The eyes of the world are upon us. Let us 
therefore, be wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. In times 
like these, it is the duty of every good citizen not only to 
obey the Constitution and laws himself, but to see as far as 
possible that every one else does so, for each now is held re- 
sponsible for all, and all are held responsible for each. There- 
fore I charge not only every officer, but also every man in the 
State, to be vigilant in the exercise of all his duties as a loyal 
citizen of the United States, to see that all crime is instantly 
punished, and that all the laws, and particularly those for the 
protection of the freedmen, are duly executed. . . 

I know that our people are loyal, and I feel under no neces- 
sity therefore, of impressing the duty of loyalty upon them, 
but I wish to warn them particularly against all expressions of 
impatience which can by any system of torturing, be construed 
into utterances of disloyalty. Such expressions are all reported 
to the North and magnified and made to play an important 
part in the war upon the President. Every intemperate par- 
agraph in a newspaper is particularly adapted to this purpose 
— and I here beg leave to say that I think it is high time that 
the custom which has so long prevailed among our people and 
newspapers both South and North, and with such disastrous 
results, of speaking evil of each other, should be desisted from 



The Temper of the Southern Whites 6i 

— it , . is productive of nothing but evil continually. I am 
sorry to say that some of our Southern newspapers are copying 
too closely the bad example set by some in the North. The 
only object of certain journals would seem to be to prejudice 
one section of the country against the other. . . They appear 
not to care what becomes of the country. The Northern 
papers of this class reject as odious all notice of anything good 
that is done in the South, and collect with care every instance 
of lawlessness, great or small, real or imaginary, and parade 
it in their columns until the minds of their readers are poisoned 
against us, and they mistake the act of one lawless individual 
for the uniform conduct of the whole community. 

On the other hand, some of our Southern papers notice 
nothing good in the North, but cull with care every instance 
of elopement, murder, theft, robbery, arson^, burglary, . . 
until their readers are taught to believe that the North is ut- 
terly corrupt. . . The God of battles has irrevocably decreed 
that we are one people. We must live together as brethren. 



Popular Regard for Confederate Leaders 

Publications Mississippi Historical Society, vol. viii, p. S4. Burton 
N. Harrison to his mother. Harrison was President Davis's private 
secretary. [May ISf, 1867] 

At all the landings up the river there were little clusters of 
people to see Mr. Davis. At Brandon they . . learned that 
the chief was coming up the next day. They were ready to 
receive us, therefore, and such a reception one can hardly ex- 
pect anywhere else in the world. The ladies came on the boat, 
embracing and kissing him, weeping, praying, and asking God's 
blessing on him, until we were all overcome with the scene. 
Reaching Richmond we found a crowd of thousands of people 
on the wharves, — mainly negroes, some of whom had been 
instructed by the vicious Yankee emissaries who are among 
them, to show their insolence to us. The presence of some 
soldiers, however, served to keep them in order and nothing 
disagreeable happened. . . All along the street men stood with 
uncovered heads and the women waved their handkerchiefs 



62 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

from the windows. . . He . . received visits from hundreds 
of friends who called. 

Next day, Sunday, he spent indoors, receiving visitors — 
particularly just after the congregations came from church. 
The parlor was crowded with pretty women — he kissed every 
one of them — and I observed that he took delight in kissing 
the prettiest when they went out as well as when they came In. 

Monday morning the feeling thro'out the community was 
at fever heat. The Judge, Underwood, is the "bete noir" of 
Richmond, — ever}'body regarded him with horror and dis- 
gust because of that villainous discourse to his grand jury of 
negroes, which he called his "charge." . . 

The women, all over town, were praying, and the men wore 
the most anxious faces even those streets had ever seen. The 
people kept their excitement under control, however, because 
everybody felt that an outburst would only compromise Mr. 
Davis. . . 

Everything was according to our hopes. . . When it came to 
the Judge's turn to speak and he announced that the case was 
"bailable" and that he would admit the prisoner to bail, the 
effect was electrical. Everybody's face brightened, when It 
was all over, everybody rushed forward to congratulate Mr. 
Davis. The court room which had been as still almost as a 
death chamber resounded with shouts. . . 

As long as I live I shall never forget the joyful excitement of 
the crowd outside, as they rushed to the carriage to shake his 
hand and pursued us with cheers and "God's blessings." At 
the hotel was a great company — assembled to congratulate 
him as he came up the stairs upon my arm, but everybody held 
back with instinctive delicacy as he entered the room where his 
wife was. . . The door was locked and we all knelt around 
the table in thankful prayer for the deliverance which God had 
brought us. We were all sobbing, with tears of joyful emo- 
tion . . the door was opened and the happy multitude of 
friends came in with their tears and smiles of welcome. 



9. INFLUENCE OF THE CONFEDERATES 



General Lee's Advice to the Southern People 

Extracts from General Lee's letters. Printed by permission of Capt. 
Robert E. Lee. See also R. E. Lee, Recollections and Letters of Gen- 
eral Lee: J. W. Jones, Personal Reminiscences of Gen. Robt. E. Lee; 
and White, Robert E. Lee. [1S"65-1S69] 

[To Captain Josiah Tatnall, September 7, 1865]. Like 
yourself, I have, since the cessation of hostilities, advised all 
with whom I hav^e conversed on the subject, who come within 
the terms of the President's proclamations, to take the oath of 
allegiance, and accept in good faith the amnesty offered. But 
I have gone further, and have recommended to those who 
were excluded from their benefits, to make application under 
the proviso of the proclamation of the 29th of May, to be 
embraced in its provisions. Both classes, in order to be re- 
stored to their former rights and privileges, were required to 
perform a certain act, and I do not see that an acknowledg- 
ment of fault is expressed in one more than in the other. The 
war being at an end, the Southern States having laid down 
their arms, and the questions at issue between them and the 
Northern States having been decided, I believe it to be the 
duty of every one to unite in the restoration of the country, 
and the reestablishment of peace and harmony. These consid- 
erations governed me in the counsels I gave to others, and 
induced me on the 13th of June to make application to be 
included in the terms of the amnesty proclamation, I have 
not received an answer, and cannot inform you what has been 
the decision of the President. But, whatever that may be, 
I do not see how the course I have recommended and prac- 
ticed can prove detrimental to the former President of the 
Confederate States. It appears to me that the allayment of 
passion, the dissipation of prejudice, and the restoration of 
reason, will alone enable the people of the countr}^ to acquire 
a true knowledge and form a correct judgment of the events 
of the past four years. It will, I think, be admitted that Mr. 
Davis has done nothing more than all the citizens of the South- 

63 



64 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

ern States, and should not be held accountable for acts per- 
formed by them in the exercise of what had been considered 
by them unquestionable right. I have too exalted an opinion 
of the American people to believe that they will consent to 
injustice; and it is only necessary, in my opinion, that truth 
should be known, for the rights of every one to be secured. 
1 know of no surer way of eliciting the truth than by burying 
contention with the war. 

[To Colonel R. L. Maury, 1865.] I do not know how 
far their emigration to another land may conduce to their 
prosperity. Although prospects may not now be cheering, I 
have entertained the opinion that, unless prevented by circum- 
stances or necessity, it would be better for them [Confederate 
leaders] and the country to remain at their homes and share 
the fate of their respective States. 

[To Gov. John Letcher.] All should unite in honest ef- 
forts to obliterate the effects of war, and to restore the bless- 
ings of peace. They should remain, if possible, in the coun- 
try; promote harmony and good-feeling; qualify themselves 
to vote; and elect to the State and general legislatures wise 
and patriotic men, who will devote their abilities to the inter- 
ests of the country, and the healing of all dissensions; I have 
invariably recommended this course since the cessation of hos- 
tilities, and have endeavored to practice it myself. 



"The Backbone and Sinew of the South" 

Senate Ex. Doc. no. 'i3, 89 Cong., 1 Sess.. p. 2. From B. C. Truman's 
report to the President. [April 9, 1S66] 

If any general assertion can be made that will apply to the 
masses of the people of the south, it is that they are at the 
present time indifferent tow^ard the general government. For 
four years of eventful life as a nation, they w'ere accustomed 
to speak of and regard, "our government" as the one which 
had its seat in Richmond; and thousands who at first looked 
upon that government with great suspicion and distrust, grad- 
ually, from the mere lapse of time and the force of example, 
came to admit it into their ideas as their government. The 



Influence of the Confederates 65 

great body of the people in any country always move slowly; 
the transfer of allegiance from one de facto government to 
another is not effected in a day, v.'hatever oaths of loyalty 
may be taken; and I have witnessed many amusing instances 
of mistakes on the part of those of whose attachments to the 
government there could be no question. Ignorance and preju- 
dice always lag furthest behind any radical change, and no 
person can forget that the violent changes of the past few 
years have left the ideas of the populace greatly unsettled and 
increased their indifference. Fully one-half of the southern 
people never cherished an educated and active attachment to 
any government that was over them, and the war has left 
them very much as it found them. 

The rank and file of the disbanded southern army — those 
who remained in it to the end — are the backbone and sinew 
of the south. Long before the surrender, corps, divisions, 
brigades, and regiments had been thoroughly purged of the 
worthless class — the skulkers — those of whom the south, as 
well as any other country, would be best rid; and these it is 
that are now prolonging past bitternesses. These are they, 
in great part, as I abundantly learned by personal observation, 
that are now editing reckless newspapers, and that put forth 
those pernicious utterances that so little represent the thinking, 
substantial people, and are so eagerly seized out and paraded 
by certain northern journalists, who themselves as little repre- 
sent the great north. To the disbanded regiments of the 
rebel army, both officers and men, I look with great confidence 
ns the best and altogether most hopeful element of the south, 
the real basis of reconstruction and the material of worthy 
citizenship. On a thousand battle-fields they have tested the 
invincible power of that government they vainly sought to 
overthrow, and along a thousand picket lines, and under the 
friendly flag of truce, they have learned that the soldiers of 
the Union bore them no hatred, and shared with them the com- 
mon attributes of humanity. Around the returned soldier 
of the south gathers the same circle of admiring friends that 

we see around the millions of hearth-stones in our own sec- 
5 



66 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

tion, and from him they are slowly learning the lesson of 
charity and of brotherhood. I know of very few more potent 
influences at work in promoting real and lasting reconcilia- 
tion and reconstruction than the influence of the returned south- 
ern soldier. 



The South "Accepts the Situation" 

MS. Letter. Gen. Wade Hampton to President Johnson. [1866] 
The South unequivocally "accepts the situation" in which she 
is placed. Everything that she has done has been done in 
perfect good faith, and in the true and highest sense of the 
word, she is loyal. By this I mean that she intends to abide by 
the laws of the land honestly ; to fulfill all her obligations faith- 
fully and to keep her word sacredly, and I assert that the 
North has no right to demand more of her. You have no 
right to ask, or expect that she will at once profess unbounded 
love to that Union from which for four years she tried to 
escape at the cost of her best blood and all her treasure. Nor 
can you believe her to be so unutterably hypocritical, so base 
as to declare that the flag of the Union has already usurped in 
her heart the place which has so long been sacred to the 
"Southern Cross." The men at the South who make such 
professions are renegades or traitors and they will surely be- 
tray you if you trust them. But the brave men who fought to 
the last in a cause which they believed and still believe to have 
been a just one, who clung to their colors as long as they 
waved, and who, when their cause was lost, acknowledged 
their defeat and accepted the terms offered to them, as they 
were true to their convictions in the one case, they will prove 
true to their obligations in the other. 



"Buttons a Sign of Disloyalty" 

Report of Joint Committee on Beconstrvction , part ii, p. 47. [1866] 

I THINK myself the way the rebels parade their unifoiTns, 
wearing their buttons, is a sign of disloyalty. . . A great many 
coats are worn which were worn in the rebel army. As a 



Influence of the Confederates 67 

general thing their buttons are cut oft; but there are a good 
many who still wear their buttons. Some coats are evidently 
new, made in the old shape, but merely denuded of buttons, 
while a great many wear buttons. The gray predominates 
throughout the south. They seem to fancy it. 



Confederate Uniforms Forbidden 

Wihitelaw Reid, After the War, p. 156. [1865] 

Indeed, nothing was more touching, in all that I saw in Sa- 
vannah, than the almost painful eftort of the Rebels, from 
Generals down to privates, to conduct themselves so as to 
evince respect for our soldiers, and to bring no severer punish- 
ment upon the city than it had already received. There was a 
brutal scene at the hotel, where a drunken sergeant, with a pair 
of tailors' shears, insisted on cutting the buttons from the 
uniform of an elegant gray-headed old Brigadier, who had 
just come in from Johnston's army; but he bore himself mod- 
estly and very handsomely through it. His staft was com- 
posed of fine-looking, stalwart fellows, evidently gentlemen, 
who appeared intensely mortified at such treatment . . they 
had no clothes save their Rebel uniforms, and had, as yet, 
had no time to procure others — but they avoided disturbance, 
and submitted to what they might, with some propriety, and 
with the general approval of our officers, have resented. What 
these men may become, under a lax rein, cannot be said; but, 
supposing themselves under a tight rein, they are now behav- 
ing, in the main, with very marked propriety. 



lo. MISREPRESENTATION OF THE SOUTH 



"A High Bred Lady of Mobile" 

Senate Ex. Doc. no. 2, 39 Cong., 1 Sess., p. 58. Statement of Gen. T. 
Kilby Smith to Carl Schurz. [September 14, 1865] 

One of the most intelligent and high-bred ladies of Mobile, 
having had silver plate stolen from her more than two years 
ago, and having, upon affidavit, secured the incarceration of 
two of her former slaves whom she suspected of the theft, came 
to me in my official capacity, and asked my order to have them 
whipped and tortured into a confession of the crime charged 
and the participants in it. This lady was surprised when I 
informed her that the days of the raclc and the thumbscrew 
were passed, and though pious, well bred, and a member of 
the church, thought it a hardship that a negro might not be 
whipped or tortured till he would confess what he might know 
about a robbery, although not even a prima facie case existed 
against him, or that sort of evidence that would induce a grand 
jury to indict. I offer this as an instance of the feeling that 
exists in all classes against the negro, and their inability to 
realize that he is a free man and entitled to the rights of citi- 
zenship. 

"Southern Atrocities" 

Senate Ex. Doc. no. 2, 39 Cong., 1 Sess. Document appended to re- 
port of Carl Schurz. This report was republished by the Union 
League and scattered over the North. Numerous reports similar to 
this were circulated by agitators. [July 20, 1865] 

Freedmen' s Bureau \_Mohile']^ July 20, i86j. 
Sir: I have the honor to report some testimony I have re- 
ceived of the Murders and Barbarities committed on the freed- 
men of Clark, Choctaw, Washington and Marengo counties, 
also the Alabama and Bigbee rivers. 

About the last of April, tT\-o freedmen were hung in Clark 
county. 

On the night of the eleventh of May, a freedman named 
Alfred w^as taken from his bed by his master and others and 
was hung, and his body still hangs to the limb. 

68^ 



Misrepresentation of the South 69 



About the middle of June, two colored soldiers (at a house 
in Washington county) showed their papers and were per- 
mitted to remain all night. In the morning the planter called 
them out and shot one dead, wounded the other, and then 
with the assistance of his brother (and their negro dogs) they 
pursued the one who had escaped. He ran about three miles 
and found a refuge in a white man's house, who informed the 
pursuers that he had passed. The soldier was finally got across 
the river, but has not been heard of since. 

At Bladen Springs, (or rather, six miles from there) a 
freedman was chained to a pine tree and burned to death. 

About two weeks after, and fifteen miles from Bladen, an- 
other freedman was burned to death. 

In the latter part of May, fifteen miles south of Bladen, 
a freedman was shot outside of the planter's premises and the 
body dragged into the stable, to make it appear he had shot 
him in the act of stealing. 

About the first of June, six miles west of Bladen, a freed- 
man was hung. His body is still hanging. 

About the last of May, three freedmen were coming down 
the Bigbee river in a skiff, when two of them were shot; the 
other escaped to the other shore. . . 

About the first of May, near landing, in Choctaw 

county, a freedman was hung; and about the same time, near 
the same neighborhood, a planter shot a freedman, (who was 
talking to one of his servants,) and dragged his body into his 
garden to conceal it. 

A preacher (near Bladen Springs) states in the pulpit that 
the roads in Choctaw county stunk with the dead bodies of 
servants that had fled from their masters. 

The people about Bladen declare that no negro shall live in 
the country unless he remains with his master and is as obedient 
as heretofore. 

In Clark county, about the first of June, a freedman was 
shot through the heart; his body lies unburied. 

About the last of May, a planter hung his servant (a 
woman) in presence of all the neighborhood. Said planter 



70 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

had killed this woman's husband three weeks before. This 
occurred at Suggsville, Clark county. 

About the last of April, t^'O women were caught near a 
certain plantation in Clark county and hung; their bodies are 
still suspended. 

On the 19th of July, t^vo freedmen were taken off the 
steamer Commodore Farrand, tied, and hung; then taken down, 
their heads cut off and their bodies thrown in the riv^er. 

July 1 1, two men took a woman off the same boat and threw 
her in the river. This woman had a coop, with some chick- 
ens. They threw all in together, and told her to go to the 
damned Yankees. The woman was drowned. 

There are regular patrols posted on the rivers, who board 
some of the boats, after the boats leave they hang, shoot, or 
drown the victims they may find on them, and all those found 
on the roads or coming down the river are most invariably 
murdered. 

This is only a few of the murders that are committed on the 
helpless and unprotected freedmen of the above named coun- 
ties. . . 

I have been careful of authenticity, and very much has been 
related to me that I have declined accepting as testimony, al- 
though I believe its truth. 

The history of all these cases, besides others, I have in full, 
with all their horrible particulars. 

W. A. POILLON, 

Captain and Ass't. Sup't. Freedmen. 



Complaints about IMisrepresentation 

House Journal (Alabama), January 16, 1867. [1867] 

Whereas, Correspondents of public journals North and West, 
and speakers clerical and secular, are daily asserting that it is 
unsafe for persons recently in hostility to us to come among 
us, or to reside in our midst on account of threatened personal 
violence, greatly to the prejudice of our interests, and the 
speedy restoration of those friendly relations essential to the 



Misrepresentation of the South 71 

prosperity of the people, and to the quiet of the nation : There- 
fore, 

Be it resolved, etc., That we hereby publish and declare 
all such assertions to be calumnies working great injustice and 
wrong to the people of Alabama, who are peaceable and law- 
abiding citizens actively engaged in the pursuit of peace, try- 
ing to restore their shattered fortunes by honest industry, and 
v/illing to receive, and earnestly invite all who are honest, 
industrious, and peaceable, and are desirous of establishing 
themselves as farmers, mechanics, or artisans amongst us, and 
to become citizens of our State, to assist in tilling our fertile 
lands. 



II. FROM SLAVERY TO FREEDOM 



The News of Freedom 

Smedes, A Southern Planter, p. 228. Copyright 1887. Used by per- 
mission of James Pott and Co. [IS'eo] 

On the day that the news reached him, he [Col. Dabney] 

called his son Thomas to him, and they rode together to the 

field where the negroes were at work. He informed them of 

the news that had reached him, and that they were now free. 

His advice was that they should continue to work the crop 

as they had been doing. At the end of the year they should 

receive such compensation for their labor as he thought just. 

From this time till January i, 1866, no apparent change 
took place among the Burleigh negroes. Those who worked 
in the field went out as usual, and cultivated and gathered in 
the crops. In the house, they went about their customary 
duties. We expected them to go away or to demand wages, 
or at least to give some sign that they knew they were free, 
except that they were very quiet and serious, and more obedient 
and kind than they had ever been known to be . . we saw 
no change in them. 

At Christmas such compensation was made them for their 
services as seemed just. Afterwards fixed wages were offered 
and accepted. Thomas called them up now and told them that 
as they no longer belonged to him they must discontinue calling 
him "master." "Yes, marster," "yes, marster," was the an- 
swer to this. 



"Free as Birds" 

Mrs. V. V. Claj-ton, White and Black under the Old Regime, p. 152. 
Copyright 1899. Used by permission of Mrs. Clayton. [1865] 

My husband said . . "I think it best for me to inform our 

negroes of their freedom." So he ordered all the grown slaves 

to come to him, and told them they no longer belonged to him 

as propert}', but were all free. He said to them, "You are 

not bound to remain with me any longer, and I have a proposi- 

72 



From Slavery to Freedom 73 

tion to make to you. If any of you desire to leave, . . I 
propose to furnish you with a conveyance to move you, and 
with provisions for the balance of the year." The universal 
answer was, "Master, we want to stay right here with you." 

The pleasure of knowing they were free seemed to be 
mingled with sadness. That very night, long after the usual 
hour for bedtime, the hum of the busy spinning wheel was 
heard. On inquiry in the morning I found that Nancy was 
the one spinning long into the night. Asking why she had 
been up so late at night at work, she replied: "I have no 
master to feed and clothe Nancy now. She will hav'e to look 
out for something for herself and look out for the rainy day." 
In many instances the slav^es were so infatuated with the idea 
of being as they said "free as birds," that they left their homes 
and consequently suffered; but our slaves were not so foolish. 
We had the cotton crop on hand which was made the first 
year of the war. . . This old cotton crop was sold, and the pro- 
ceeds divided out among all; each family receiving according to 
its size. , . Our negroes soon parted with their money. Some 
bought judiciously, some gay finery. All were pleased. My 
brother had a man named John, a brick mason by trade, to 
whom he was very much attached. He said to him, "John, 
you are free." He replied: "Massa, I'd like to see them 
Yankees make me eny freer den I is." . . 

Gqu. Clayton devoted himself to his farm, the only difference 
in the order of things being that the former slaves were paid 
monthly wages, and provided their own clothes. I often said 
to my husband that the freedom to the negroes was a freedom 
to me, a freedom from responsibility and care. 



A Plan for a Negro Town 

Whitelaw Reid, After the War. p. 89. Extracts from the military or- 
der organizing Mitchellville in South. Carolina. There were hun- 
dreds of similar organizations. This was the army plan for solving 
the negro problem. [1865] 

I. All lands now set apart for the colored population, near 
Hilton Head, are declared to constitute a village, to be known 



74 Dociunentary History of Reconstruction 

as the village of MItchelvIlle. Only freedmen and colored 
persons residing or sojourning within the territorial of said 
village, shall be deemed and considered inhabitants thereof. 

2. The village of MItchelvIlle shall be organized and 
governed as follows: Said village shall be divided Into dis- 
tricts, as nearly equal In population as practicable, for the 
election of councllmen, sanitary and police regulations, and the 
general government of the people residing therein. 

3. The government shall consist of a supervisor and Treas- 
urer, to be appointed by, and hold office during the pleasure of 
the Military Commander of the district assisted by a councilman 
from each council district, to be elected by the people, who shall 
also, at the same time, choose a Recorder and Marshal. The 
duties of the Recorder and Marshal shall be defined by the 
Council of Administration. 

4. The Supervisor and Councllmen shall constitute the 
Council of Administration, with the Recorder as secretary. 

5. The Council of Administration shall have power: 

To pass such ordinances as It shall deem best, in relation to 
the following subjects : To establish schools for the education of 
children and other persons. To prevent and punish vagrancy, 
Idleness and crime. To punish licentiousness, drunkenness, 
offences against public decency and good order, and petty 
violation of the rights of property and person. To require 
due observance of the Lord's Day. To collect fines and pen- 
alties. To punish offences against village ordinances. To 
settle and determine disputes concerning claims for wages, 
personal property, and controversies betv/een debtor and 
creditor. To levy and collect taxes to defray the expenses 
of the village government, and for the support of schools. 
To lay out, regulate, and clean the streets. To establish 
wholesale sanitary regulations for the prevention of disease. 
To appoint officers, places and times for the holding of elec- 
tions. To compensate municipal officers, and to regulate all 
other matters affecting the well-being of the citizens, and 
good order of society. . . 

8. Hilton Head Island will be divided into school dis- 



From Slavery to Freedom 75 

tricts, to conform, as nearly as practicable, to the schools as 
established by the Freedmen's Association. In each district 
there shall be elected one School Commissioner, who will be 
charged with supplying the wants of the schools, under the 
direction of the teacher thereof. Every child, between the 
ages of six and fifteen years, residing within the limits of such 
school Districts, shall attend school daily, while they are in 
session, excepting only in case of sickness. Where children are of 
a suitable age to earn a livelihood, and their services are re- 
quired by their parents or guardians, and on the written order 
of the teacher of such school District, may be exempt from 
attendance, for such time as said order shall specify. And the 
parents and guardians will be held responsible that said children 
so attend school, under the penalty of being punished, at the 
discretion of the Council of Administration. 



Free Negro Labor 

Senate Ex. Doc. no. 2, 39 Cong., 1 Sess., p. 21. From Carl Schurz's 
report to President Johnson. [1865] 

Immediately after the emancipation of the slaves, when the 
general confusion was most perplexing, the prevalent desire 
among the whites seemed to be, if they could not retain their 
negroes as slaves, to get rid of them entirely. Wild specula- 
tions were Indulged in, how to remove the colored population 
at once and to import white laborers to fill its place; how to ob- 
tain a sufficient supply of coolies, etc. Even at the present mo- 
ment the removal of the f reedmen is strongly advocated by those 
who have the traditional horror of a free negro, and in some 
sections, especially where the soil is more adapted to the culti- 
vation of cereals than the raising of the staples, planters appear 
to be inclined to drive the negroes away, at least from their 
plantations. . . 

I found a very few Instances of original secessionists also 
manifesting a willingness to give the free-labor experiment a 
fair trial. I can represent the sentiment of this small class in no 
better way than by quoting the language used by an Alabama 



76 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

judge. . . "As to this thing of free negro labor, I do not believe 
in it, but I will give it a fair trial. I have a plantation and am 
going to make contracts with my hands, and then I want a real 
Yankee to run the machine for me ; not one of our New Yorkers 
or Pennsylvanians, but the genuine article from Massachusetts 
or Vermont — one who can not only farm, but sing psalms 
and pray, and teach school — a real abolitionist, who believes 
in the thing just as I don't believe in it. If he does not succeed, 
I shall consider it proof conclusive that you are wrong and I 
am right." 



12. TREATMENT OF NEGROES 



Conditions of the Negroes after the Surrender 

Senate Ex. Doc. no. 2. .?9 Cotig.. 1 Sess.. pp. 15, 31. Report of Carl 
Schurz to the President. [1865] 

When the war came to a close, the labor system of the south 
was already much disturbed. During the progress of military 
operations large numbers of slaves had left their masters and 
followed the columns of our armies; others had taken refuge in 
our camps; many thousands had enlisted in the service of the 
national government. Extensive settlements of negroes had 
been formed along the seaboard and the banks of the Missis- 
sippi, under the supervision of army officers and treasury agents, 
and the government was feeding the colored refugees, who 
could not be advantageously employed, in the so-called con- 
traband camps. Many slaves had also been removed by their 
masters, as our armies penetrated the country, either to Texas 
or to the interior of Georgia and Alabama. Thus a con- 
siderable portion of the laboring force had been withdrawn 
from its former employments. But a majority of the slaves 
remained on the plantations to which they belonged, especially 
in those parts of the country which were not touched by the 
war, and where, consequently, the emancipation proclamation 
was not enforced by the military power. Although not ignor- 
ant of the stake they had in the result of the contest, the patient 
bondmen waited quietly for the development of things. But 
as soon as the struggle was finally decided, and our forces were 
scattered about in detachments to occupy the country, the so far 
unmoved masses began to stir. The report went among them 
that their liberation was no longer a mere contingency, but a 
fixed fact. Large numbers of colored people left the planta- 
tions; many flocked to our military posts and camps to obtain 
the certainty of their freedom, and others walked away merely 
for the purpose of leaving the place on which they had been 
held in slavery, and because they could now go with impunity. 
Still others, and their number was by no means inconsiderable, 
remained with their former masters and continued their work 

77 



78 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

on the field, but under new and as yet unsettled conditions, and 
under the agitating influence of a feeling of restlessness. In 
some localities, however, where our troops had not yet pene- 
trated and where no military post was within reach, planters 
endeavored and partially succeeded in maintaining between 
themselves and the negroes the relation of master and slave 
partly by concealing from them the great changes that had 
taken place, and partly by terrorizing them into submission to 
their behests. But aside from these exceptions, the country 
found itself thrown into that confusion which is naturally in- 
separable from a change so great and so sudden. . . 

The negro is constitutionally docile and eminently good- 
natured. Instances of the most touching attachment of freed- 
men to their old masters and mistresses have come to my 
notice. To a white man whom they believe to be sincerely 
their friend they cling with greater affection even than to one 
of their own race. By some northern speculators their con- 
fidence has been sadly abused. Nevertheless, the trust they 
place in persons coming from the north, or in any way con- 
nected with the government, is most childlike and unbounded. . . 
Those who enjoy their confidence enjoy also their affection. 
Centuries of slavery have not been sufficient to make them the 
enemies of the white race. If in the future a feeling of mutual 
hostility should develop itself between the races, it will 
probably not be the fault of those who have shown such an 
inexhaustible patience under the most adverse and trying cir- 
cumstances. . . 

A belief, conviction, or prejudice, or whatever you may call 
it, so widely spread and apparently so deeply rooted as this, 
that the negro will not work without physical compulsion, is 
certainly calculated to have a very serious influence upon the 
conduct of the people entertaining it. It naturally produced 
a desire to preserve slavery in its original form as much and 
as long as possible . . or to introduce into the new system 
that element of physical compulsion which would make the 
negro work. Efforts were, indeed, made to hold the negro 
in his old state of subjection, especially in such localities where 



The Treatment of Negroes 79 

our miliary forces had not yet penetrated, or where the 
country was not garrisoned in detail. Here and there planters 
succeeded for a limited period to keep their former slaves in 
ignorance or at least doubt, about their new rights. 



Treatment of Negroes in Texas 

Senate Ex. Doc. no. 6, JO Cong.. 2 Sess., pp. 144, 150. Report of Gen- 
eral J. B. Kiddoo, U. S. Army. [1865] 

The better class of planters, who were former slaveholders, 
are, as a general thing, disposed to deal fairly with them in 
the division of the crop, but there is a class of men, commonly 
known in the State as "adventurers," small planters, travelling- 
speculators, country store-keepers . . swarming the planting 
regions like as many buzzards, seeking for prey. They en- 
deavor to sell to the freedmen worthless jewelry, cheap cloth- 
ing, and unsound horses. The country store-keepers sell them 
rope and bagging, often at enormous prices, and, in collusion 
with the small planters, take a lien on their portion of the crop, 
the freedmen having no money; this being their first year's 
labor for wages. Money is in some instances advanced for 
them to pay the tax on their cotton, which is required before 
it can go into market, and before it gets out of the hands of 
these men it is far spent. In many instances bills are presented 
against their portion of the crop for trifles, of such size as to 
almost absorb it; this, also, by collusion between the planters 
and small stores, and the natural presumption is that they 
divide the profits. . . 

I consider it just to the better people of Texas to state that 
the outrages spoken of therein are usually committed by a class 
of individuals who never were slave owners, but were the 
negro's competitor in labor, and hence his enemy, and now par- 
ticularly so, since the negro is free and approximates towards 
equality with them. It is the lower class of people that have 
most bitter and vulgar hatred of the negro. The more intelli- 
gent and liberal people consider the negro set free by the arbi- 



So Documentary History of Recofistruction 

trament of arms, and hence have no animosity towards him; 
while the other class hold him personally responsible, and treat 
him accordingly. . . 

Those planters who feel kindly towards the negro, and 
accept his freedom as one of the results of the war, over which 
he had no immediate control, report to me that they work . . 
and better than could have been expected; that they work 
cheerfully; that they observe the new and anomalous relation 
under which they have been placed towards their former 
masters with a commendable propriety; that their good be- 
havior is beyond all expectations; that they have not been 
carried away by exaggerated and impracticable ideas of their 
freedom, and that they would not re-enslave them if it were in 
their power. This latter I believe to be the unanimous sentiment 
of the State. No one wishes the negro re-enslaved and all 
rejoice at his freedom, but take some exceptions at the manner 
in which it was brought about, . . Although m.uch has been 
accomplished this year in this State, yet it has taken much 
extra exertion. . . They are, as a class, perfect children, in- 
tellectually. They have hitherto had an owner, and over- 
seer to do their thinking for them, and now, when allowed to 
think, and act for themselves, are ill fit to exercise the dis- 
tinguished prerogative. In their abject ignorance, they have 
been led to believe that their freedom means unrestraint — 
license to work as they please and do as they please, regardless 
of contracts or other legal obligations. In order that free 
labor may prove a success, the freedmen need to be taught the 
simplest lessons of practical life. They should be taught to 
depend upon their own personal exertions, and that the highest 
enjoyment of their freedom is through the means of labor, 
industry, diligence, frugality, and virtue. One of the greatest 
difficulties I have to contend with in the experiment of free labor 
is the want of patience on the part of the southern people. 
They are too ready, and almost eager, to pronounce it a failure. 
In their sudden liberation from slavery, the freed people are, I 
will admit, too often restless, shiftless, and suspicious of all 
restraint, but these characteristics . . are the result of their 



The Treatment of Negroes 8i 

former, rather than their present, relations, and only need kind- 
ness, patience, education, and good faith to overcome. 



"East Tennesseeans do not like Niggers" 

J. T. Trowbridge, The South, p. 239. [1S65] 

East Tennesseeans, though opposed to slavery and secession, do 
not like niggers. There is at this day more prejudice against 
color among the middle and poorer classes — the "Union" 
men, of the South, who owned few or no slaves — than among 
the planters who owned them by scores and hundreds. . . On 
reaching Nashville, I learned that the negro testimony bill had 
been defeated in the legislature by the members from East 
Tennessee. 

I 

Lo5^alists Oppose Negroes 

Report of Joint Committee en Reconstruction, part i, pp. 112, 117, 
121. Statements of Freedmen's Bureau officials. [1866] 

The eastern portion of the State [Tennessee], v/here about 
three-fourths of all the loyal people of the State live, is in a 
peculiar condition in regard to politics. The Union people in 
my section. Middle Tennessee, consider it absolutely necessary 
for the good of the country that the negro should have his 
rights in court; and not only that, but that we should at least 
inaugurate the principle that those who have fought in the 
arm.y should have the right to vote as well as those who pay 
taxes and those who can read and write. But our Union friends 
in the eastern portion of the State, as we understand it, almost 
to a man, although the best Union men in the land, are opposed 
to any such thing. . . 

I have not been in favor of moving the military. I can tell 
you what an old citizen, a Union man, said to me. Said he, "I 
tell you what, if you take away the military from Tennessee, 
the buzzards can't eat up the niggers as fast as we'll kill 'em." 
I do not think it would be as bad as that; but I know there are 
plenty of bad men there vv-ho would maltreat the negro. . . 



Docunientary History of Reconstruction 



Tennessee Is peculiar. In no other State do you find the 
same sort of opposition as in Tennessee. My duties wlthin^the 
last eight months, have called me through the five States of Ken- 
tucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi. I made 
an inspection tour through the three States below Tennessee, in 
addition to my own regular duties. It is a melancholy fact 
that among the bitterest opponents of the negro in Tennessee 
are the intensely radical loyalists of the mountain district — the 
men who have been in our armies. Take East Tennessee, for 
instance. The great opposition to the measure in the Ten- 
nessee legislature, giving the negro the right to testify and an 
equality before the law, has come from that section, chiefly. . . 
In Middle Tennessee and in West Tennessee the largest and 
the wealthiest planters of the old slaveholding population have 
more cordially co-operated with me in my duties than the people 
of East Tennessee. 



Friends and Enemies of the Negroes 

Senate Ex. Doc. no. /■•?. .10 Cona., 1 Sess.. p. 15. Report of B. C. 
Truman to the President. [April 9, 1SG6] 

Almost the only key that furnishes a satisfactory solution to 
the southern question in its relations to the negro, that gives a 
reasonable explanation to the treatment which he receives and 
the estimation in which he is held, is found in the fact — too 
often forgotten in considering this matter — that the people 
from their earliest days have regarded slavery as his proper 
estate. . . That a vast majority of the southern people 
honestly entertain this opinion no one who travels among them 
for eight months can doubt. . . 

Holding that the negro occupies a middle ground betv\-een 
the human race and the animal, they regard it as a real mis- 
fortune to him that he should be stripped of a protector, and 
that the imm.ortal proclamation of President Lincoln was 
wicked, or at least mistaken, and a scourge to society. The 
persistency and honesty with which many, even of the greatest 
men of the south, hold to this opinion, is almost unaccountable 



The Treatment of Negroes 83 

to a northern man, and is an element of such magnitude that it 
cannot well be omitted from the consideration. 

From the surrender of the rebel armies up to the Christmas 
holidays, and more especially for a few weeks preceding the 
latter, there was a nervousness exhibited throughout the south, 
in relation to their late slaves. . . There were vague and terri- 
ble fears of a servile insurrection. . . In consequence of this 
there were extensive seizures of arms and ammunition, which 
the negroes had foolishly collected, and strict precautions were 
taken to avoid any outbreak. Pistols, old muskets, and shot 
guns were taken away from them as such weapons would be 
wrested from the hands of lunatics. Since the holidays, however, 
there has been a great improvement in this matter; many of the 
whites appear to be ashamed of their former distrust, and the 
negroes are seldom molested now in carrying the fire-arms of 
which they make such a vain display. In one way or another 
they have procured great numbers of old army muskets and re- 
volvers, particularly in Texas, and I have in a few instances, 
been amused at the vigor and audacity with which they have 
employed them to protect themselves against the robbers and 
murderers that infest that State. 

Another result of the above-mentioned settled belief in the 
negro's inferiority, and in the necessity that he should not be 
left to himself without a guardian, is that in some sections he 
is discouraged from leaving his old master. I have knov/n of 
planters who considered it an offence against neighborhood 
courtesy for another to hire their old hands, and in two instances 
that were reported the disputants came to blows over the breach 
of etiquette. It is only, however, in the most remote regions, 
where our troops have seldom or never penetrated, that the ne- 
groes have not perfect liberty to rove where they choose. Even 
when the attempt is made to restrain them by a system of passes 
from their employers, or from police patrols, it is of little avail; 
for the negroes in their ignorance and darkness of understand- 
ing, are penetrated with a singularly strong conviction that they 
"are not free so long as they stay at the old place," and all 
last summer and fall they pretty thoroughly demonstrated their 



84 Documentary History of Reconstruction 



freedom bv changing their places of residence. . . In this 
general upheaval thousands of long-scattered families were joy- 
ously reunited. It is a strange fact, however, and one which I 
have abundantly established by the testimony of hundreds of 
the negroes themselves, that a large majority of them have final- 
ly returned voluntarily and settled down in the old cabins of 
their former quarters. The negro clings to old associations — it 
was only a temporary impulse of their new-found freedom to 
wander away from them; and at last they returned, generally 
wearied, hungry, and forlorn. . . When I was in Selma, Ala- 
bama, last fall, a constant stream of them, of all ages, and con- 
ditions, was pouring through that cits* on their way, as they 
always told me, to Mississippi or Tennessee. Many were 
transported free by our government, while many were on foot, 
trudging hopefully and painfully forward toward their old 
homes, from which they had been taken to escape our armies. . . 

As to the personal treatment received by the negro at the 
hands of the southern people there is wide-spread misappre- 
hension. It is not his former master, as a general thing, that is 
his worst enemy, but quite the contrary. I have talked earn- 
estly with hundreds of the old slave-owners, and seen them 
move among their fonner "chattels," and I am not mistaken. 
The feeling with which a very large majority of them regard 
the negro is one of genuine commiseration, although it is not 
a sentiment much elevated above that with which they would 
look upon a suffering animal for which they have formed an 
attachment. Last summer the negroes, exulting in their new- 
found freedom, . . were gay, thoughtless, and improvident; 
and, as a consequence, when the winter came hundreds of them 
felt the pinchings of want, and m^any perished. . . 

It is the former slave-owners who are the best friends the 
negro has in the south — those who, heretofore, have pro- 
vided for his mere physical comfort, generally with sufficient 
means, though entirely neglecting his better nature, while it is 
the "poor whites" that are his enemies. It is from these he 
suffers most. In a state of slavery they hated him; and now 
that he is free, there is no striking abatem.ent of this sentiment. 



The Treatment of Xegroes 85 

and the former master no longer feels called by the instinct of 
interest to extend that protection that he once did. On the 
streets, by the roadside, in his wretched hut, in the field of 
labor — everywhere, the inoffensive negro is exposed to their 
petty and contemptible persecutions; while, on the other hand, 
I have known instances where the respectable, substantial people 
of a community' have united together to keep guard over a 
house in which the negroes were taking their amusements, and 
from which, a few nights before, they had been rudely driven 
by vagabonds, who found pleasure in their fright and suffering. 
I reiterate, that the former owners, as a class, are the negroes' 
best friends in the south, although many of this class will dili- 
gently strive to discourage the freedm.en from any earnest ef- 
forts to promote their higher welfare. When one believes that a 
certain race of beings are incapable of advancement, he is very 
prone to v/ithhold the means of that advancement. And it is 
in this form that a species of slaver}^ will longest be perpetu- 
ated — it is in these strongholds that it will last die out. I am 
prettv sure that there is not a single negro in the whole south 
who is not receiving pay for his labor according to his own 
contract; but, as a general thing, the freedmen are encouraged 
to collect about the old mansion in their little quarters, labor for 
their former masters for set terms, receiving, besides their pay, 
food, quarters, and medical attendance, and thus continuing on 
in their former state of dependence. The cruelties of slavery, 
and all its out^vard forms, have entirely passed away; but, as 
might have been expected, glimmerings of its vassalage, its 
subserviency, and its helplessness, linger. 

It is the result of my observation, also, not only that the 
planters, generally, are far better friends to the negro than the 
poor whites, but also better than a majority of northern men 
who go south to rent plantations. . . The northerner is prac- 
tical, energetic, economical, and thrift}' — the negro is slow, 
awkward, wasteful, and slovenly; he causes his new employer 
to lose his patience, and to seize hold and attempt to perform, 
himself, what he sees so badly executed. The southerner is 
accustomed to the ways of slaves from his youth up; hence 



86 Documentary History of Reconstriictiofi 

he Is languidly and goodnaturedly indifferent; . . the north- 
ern employer is accustomed to see laborers who are vigorous 
and industrious; he knows the extent of a full day's labor, and 
he expects all to perform the amount; the southern man has 
always been compelled to employ two or three to do the work 
of one, and Is more indulgent. It is the almost universal testi- 
mony of the negroes themselves, who have been under the 
supervision of both classes — and I have talked with many with 
a view to this point — that they prefer to labor for a southern 
employer. This is not by any means to be construed to mean 
that they desire to return to slavery . . but that, being once 
assured of their liberty to go and come at will, they generally 
return to the service of the southerner. 



A Northern View of the Negro 

Report of Joint Committee on Reconstruction, part iii, p. 157. 
Statement of Gen. John Tarbell, U. S. Army. [1866] 

It is also my impression that many people in the north very 
greatly overrate the present character and capacity of the plan- 
tation negro, as well as his capacity for future improvement. I 
think time will show that the most ardent in the north will be 
greatly disappointed in the Improvement of these negroes, even 
under the most favorable circumstances. I v/ish also to add, 
judging from my travels In these three States, that these reports 
of outrages upon the colored people, of ill treatment of the 
northern settlers, are quite exceptional cases, and exaggerated, 
if not altogether false, and that all these statements In the news- 
papers of outrages upon the blacks and upon settlers from the 
north, I think, do the educated people of the south very great in- 
justice. There are, no doubt, disloyal and disorderly persons 
in the south, but it is an entire mistake to apply these terms to 
a whole people. I would as soon travel alone, unarmed, 
through the south as through the north. The south I left is 
not at all the south I hear and read about in the north. From 
the sentiment I hear in the north, I would scarcely recognize the 
people I saw, and, except their politics, liked so well. I have 
entire faith that the better classes are friendly to the negroes, 



The Treatment of Negroes 87 

and that through this feeling, and the lavrs of capital and labor, 
the relations of these classes will settle down together on terms 
equitable and just to both. I have also faith that when the 
north and south come to know each other better their relations 
will be all that could be desired. 



After a Year of Freedom 

Senate Ex. Doc. no. G, -VJ Cong., 2 Sess., p. 20. Report of Gen. Wager 
Swayne, Assistant Commissioner of tlie Freedmen's Bureau in Ala- 
bama. [1S66] 

The Rev. Dr. H. N. McTyeIre who, with distinguished man- 
liness, was always openly in favor of all schools for colored 
people, has helped us largely through the church of which he is 
now bishop. The employment of the bureau in this district 
[Alabama] to mould existing institutions which are permanent, 
rather than to displace such by a temporary antagonism of 
military power, is due to its original reception in a spirit of 
good will. Hon. Lewis E. Parsons, the provisional governor, 
was from first to last sincerely desirous for its usefulness, and 
Its warm supporter in all measures of humanity. The present 
governor, Hon. R. M. Patton, his successor, has not varied 
from this course. No difficulty has occurred with either too 
decided for solution by strong friendship, and the records of 
the legislature and convention show that good results of this 
relation are not wanting. A growing kindliness between the 
races, an Increasing fairness In the application of the laws, pros- 
pective changes of most useful tendency, and other Indications 
of a hopeful future, m.ay be attributed In part to the same 
cause. 

So much for what Is past and present. Of the future is 
required, for both refugees and freedmen, the utmost oppor- 
tunity attainable for labor, and that legislation be no longer 
adverse to the poor. A system of State care for paupers, not 
confined to simple distribution of coarse food, and which can 
rigidly exclude whoever is not actually helpless; schools for 
both white and black In regular abundance; and secure and 



88 Documentary History of Reconstruction 



quick repayment for their service rendered; these are the needs 
they have in common. 

Their other needs are different. For freedmen work is 
plenty, and of such as they are used to, with ample compensa- 
tion. With refugees, as the whites are called whom war has 
left in destitution, the case is sadly otherwise. "Remote, un- 
friended, melancholy, slow," the widow and the fatherless, the 
aged and Infirm, are scattered through the "piney woods," al- 
most beyond the reach of work, or schools, or help. They cling 
to their old homes, alike unwilling and unfit for the climate and 
the toil of the great planting districts; and are in utter, hopeless 
desolation. The problem of their wants so far has met with 
no solution save the possible development of manufactures. To 
bring them into small communities, subject them to the influence 
of emulation and of schools, and to afford light labor fitted for 
their strength, these are the wants to be supplied. Minerals of 
every kind and wood and water-power are abundant where they 
live, and to my mind no charity has half so rich a promise. 

The freedman's wants have a more public nature; a lien 
upon the product of his labor for its dues, a fair apportionment 
of schools and other opportunities, and, above all, a stern ac- 
countability which he can soon enforce on those who shall abuse 
their office in the law, or shall ignore it; and for further benefit 
he may be left to cultivate the influence which comes from 
private life efficiently conducted. But these are part and parcel 
of that hold upon the laws which they have who help to 
make them. To give them this, as amply fit as many of them 
are, and many more becoming so, is duty, and humanity, and 
interest. 



13- SOME TROUBLES AND DISAPPOINTMENTS 
OF FREEDOM 



Fred Douglass on Freedom 

Life and Times of Frederick Douglass, hy Himself. Copyright 1886. 
Used by permission of De Wolfe, Fiske, and Co. [18'65] 

And yet the government had left the freedmen in a [bad] 
condition. . . It felt that it had done enough for him. It had 
made him free, and henceforth he must make his own way in 
the world. Yet he had none of the conditions of self-preser- 
vation or self-protection. He was free from the individual 
master, but the slave of society. He had neither money, prop- 
erty, nor friends. He was free from the old plantation, but 
he had nothing but the dusty road under his feet. He was free 
from the old quarter that once gave him shelter, but a slave to 
the rains of sum.mer and to the frosts of winter. He was . . 
turned loose, naked, hungry, and destitute to the open sky. 



Freedom a Disappointment 

Montgomery Advertiser. [August 13, 1865] 

Nine hundred of [the negroes] assembled [near Mobile] to 
consider their condition, their rights and duties under the new 
state of existence upon which they have been so suddenly 
launched. Our informant was surprised at the hard, practical 
sense and moderation of tone with which the spokesmen of the 
meeting urged their views. After long talk and careful delib- 
eration, this meeting resolved, by a vote of seven hundred 
voices to two hundred, that they had made a practical trial for 
three months of the freedom which the war had bequeathed 
to them; that Its realities were far from being so flattering as 
their imagination had painted it. That they had discovered 
that the prejudices of color were by no means confined to the 
people of the South, but, on the contrary, that It was stronger 
and more marked against them In the strangers from the 
North, than in the home people of the South, . . that negroes 
no more than white men, can live without work, or be com- 

89 



90 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

fortable without homes; that their northern deliverers from 
bondage had not, as they had expected and been taught to 
expect, undertaken to provide for their happy existence in their 
new state of freedom, and that their old masters had ceased to 
take any interest in them or have a care for them ; and finally, 
that their "last state was worse than the first," and it was their 
deliberate conclusion that their true happiness and well-being 
required them to return to the homes w^hich they had aban- 
doned in a moment of excitement, and go to work again under 
their old masters. And so the resolutions were passed, and at 
last accounts the wanderers were picking up their little stock 
of movable goods, preparatory to the execution of their sen- 
sible purposes. 



Fear of Negro Insurrection 

Annual Cyclopedia, 1865, p. 627. [1865] 

Mr. Ferebee [of North Carolina] . . said that in his county 
the white citizens had all been deprived of arms, while the 
negroes were almost all of them armed by some means or other. 
It T\'as a fact that nearly every negro was supplied with arms, 
and there was a general feeling of insecurity on the part of the 
whites. There had been rumors of anticipated trouble in some 
of the counties at the commencement of next year. He did not 
know how well grounded the fears might be, but there certainly 
was much apprehension among the white citizens, especially 
among the female portion, of coming danger. 

Gen. Dockery . . stated that in his county the white resi- 
dents had been disarmed, and were at present almost destitute 
of means to protect themselves against robbery and outrage. 



Disorderly Blacks 

National Intelligencer, January 6, 1866. Georgia corresoondence. 

[1866] 

The Christmas holidays have happily passed over without any 

such organized outbreak on the part of the black population 



Troubles and Disappointments of Freedom 91 

as was at one time very seriously feared, though there have 
been no few individual cases of crime; some of very peculiar 
atrocity. . . About the same time, in this city, a gang of negro 
troops assaulted a house occupied by some Irishmen, who stood 
stoutly on the defense, and nothing but the interposition of a 
strong guard prevented the quarrel being [brought] to a bloody 
conclusion. . . Some weeks after these occurrences a very aggra- 
vated outrage . . was attempted by another crew of negro sol- 
diers, aided by some debauched country blacks. . . An attack 
[was made] upon the house of a widow lady, near the city, who 
at the time had several young ladies staying with her. . . Two 
young gentlemen . . kept the mob some time at bay, killing 
four and mortally wounding two, though, in the end, they were 
reduced to the greatest extremities, and would beyond doubt 
have been murdered, and their helpless female charges deliv- 
ered over to brutality, had it not been for the timely arrival of 
an officer with troops. From twenty-live to thirty negroes, 
the soldiers who instigated and led on the assault being about 
half that number, were engaged in this affair, and all surviving 
were arrested, though, to speak plainly, it is not believed they 
will be at all adequately punished. Some month or so since, 
it will be remembered, a very worthy physician in a neighboring 
county was murdered, and his assassin, who avowed openly the 
crime, arrested and consigned to the jail in this city. It is now 
charged by a paper here, and no denial has been made apparent, 
that this negro was lately released from confinement, and seen 
upon the streets at liberty. Per contra, there are now in the 
same jail two young white men charged before and convicted 
by a court-martial of having killed a negro woman in the in- 
terior part of the State. Lying under sentence of death, these 
men were yesterday to have been hanged but a reprieve has 
been obtained to lay a new testimony before the President. . . 
It is undeniable that the severity, and perhaps a just severity, 
in the case of white men is thought to very illy contrast with the 
lenity shown to blacks. This impression of a very gross injus- 
tice is deeply rooted here, and as, in various ways, Augusta 
largely gives the tone to the State, it may safely be said that 



92 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

that impression is the greatest obstacle here existing to a hearty 
and very general support of the federal Executive. 



The Condition of the Blacks in 1866 

Transactions of Alabama Historical Society, vol. iv. Letters of 
William F. Samford. [18'66] 

Here, in a mile of me, is a negro woman dying, who says an 
old African hag put a snake in her four years ago, and the Obi 
doctor has gone to deliver her. "Civilization" is "marching 
tAvo steps backwards" like the truant boy went to school, "to 
one fonvard" in our "Africa" down here. The negroes here 
spend their time going to "funerals," religious bowlings, pro- 
miscuous sexual intercourse, thieving and "conjuring." At 
their "funerals" they bellow like cattle when one of their num- 
ber is slaughtered. . . 

Emancipation is a fact. I have sworn to support it, and I 
shall keep my oath. Sambo is a freeman by force of presi- 
dential proclamation. But it is not unlawful to see certain 
evils of emancipation which call for the active interposition of 
the philanthropists. Sambo will flog his child unmercifully, 
and Sally will neglect it in sickness, and so between paternal 
action and maternal non-action little Cufty has a "hard road 
to travel" for tsventy-one years of his infancy — a terrible 
preparatory training for the bliss of being "free to starve." 

The stupendous wrong and folly consists in taking a poor, 
ignorant, childlike race from under the fostering care of a 
patriarchal government and withdrawing from it the protection 
of interest. . . 

The Christmas holidays here are cold, rainy, cheerless. The 
heart of the South is beginning to sink in despair. The streets 
are full of negroes, who refuse to make contracts to labor the 
next year. The short crop of 1 866 causes much dissatisfaction. 
They will not engage to work for anything but wages, and 
few are able to pay wages. They are penniless but resolute 
in their demands. They expect to see all the land divided 
out equally between them and their old masters, in time to 
make the next crop. One of the most intelligent black men I 



Troubles and Disappointments of Freedom 93 

know told me this day that In a neighboring village where 
several hundred negroes were congregated, he does not think 
that as many as three made contracts, although the planters are 
urgent in their solicitations, and offering the highest prices for 
labor they can possibly afford to pay. The same man informed 
me that the impression widely prevails that Congress is about to 
divide out the lands, and that this impression is given out by 
Federal soldiers at the nearest military station. It cannot be 
disguised that in spite of the most earnest efforts of their old 
master to conciliate and satisfy them, the estrangement between 
the races increases in its extent and bitterness. Nearly all the 
negro men are armed with repeaters and many of them carry 
them openly, day and night. The status is most unsatisfactory, 
and really full of just apprehensions of the direst results. The 
negro children are growing up in ignorance and vice. The 
older ones, men and women, abandon themselves to dissipation 
of the lowest sort. Their schools, "so-called," are simply a 
farce. 



Increased Mortality among the Negroes 

Robert Somers, Southern States, p. 52. [1869] 

Of the 453 whites who died, [Charleston, South Carolina, 
1870], 181 were children of 5 years and under; and of the 
918 blacks who died, 461 were children of 5 years and under 
— the mortality of Infants among the colored people being pro- 
portionately much greater than among the whites. . . But the 
remarkable fact is the greatly larger mortality of the negroes, 
in proportion to their total number, as compared with the 
white people. . . The mortality of 1869 shows one death in 
44.93 whites, and one death In 26.77 coloured people. In 
other words, nearly twice as many coloured people died as 
white people in proportion to their respective numbers. . . 
The mortality of whites in the year i860 was 719, or one In 
37.5, and the mortality of the coloured people 753 or one in 
28.47. The health of the whites has greatly improved since 
the war, while the health of the negroes has declined, till the 



94 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

mortality of the coloured population, greater than the mortality 
of the whites before the war, has now become so markedly 
greater, that nearly two coloured die for every one white person 
out of equal numbers of each. To those accustomed to think 
of slavery only as prolific of every form of evil, this increased 
mortality of the negroes under emancipation may appear sur- 
prising. 



14. CONSIDERATION OF NEGRO SUFFRAGE 



A Former Slaveholder's View of Negro Suffrage 

Whitelaw Reid, After the War, p. 288. [1865] 

A BROTHER of General Wade Hampton, the South Carolina 
Hotspur, was on board. He saw no great objection to negro 
suffrage, so far as the whites were concerned; and for himself, 
South Carolinian and Secessionist though he was, he was quite 
willing to accept it. He only dreaded its effect on the blacks 
themselves. Hitherto they had, in the main, been modest and 
respectful, and mere freedom was not likely to spoil them. 
But the deference to them likely to be shown by partisans eager 
for their V'Otes would have a tendency to uplift and unbalance 
themx. Beyond this, no harm would be done the South by 
negro suffrage. The old ovv'ners would cast the votes of their 
people almost as absolutely and securely as they cast their own. 
If Northern men expected in this way to build up a Northern 
party in the South, they were gravely mistaken. They would 
only be multiplying the power of the old and natural leaders of 
Southern politics by giving every vote to a former slave. Here- 
tofore such men had served their masters only in the fields; 
now they would do no less faithful service at the polls. If the 
North could stand it, the South could. For himself, he should 
make no special objection to negro suffrage as one of the terms 
of reorganization, and if it came, he did not think the South 
would have much cause to regret it. 



The Ballot Necessary for the Negro 

.^enate Ex. Doc. no .2. 3D Cong., 1 Sess., p. 42. Carl Schurz to Pres- 
laent Johnson. ri8651 

The interference of the national authority in the home con- 
cerns of the southern States would be rendered less necessary, 
and the whole problem, of political and social reconstruction be 
much simplified, if, Avhile the masses lately arrayed against the 
government are permitted to vote, the large majority of those 

95 



96 Documentar y History of Reconstruction 

who were always loyal . . were not excluded from all influ- 
ence upon legislation. In all questions concerning the Union, 
the national debt, and the future social organization of the 
south, the feelings of the colored man are naturally in sympathy 
with the views and aims of the national government. While 
the southern whites fought against the Union, the negro did 
all he could to aid it; while the southern white sees in the 
national government his conqueror, the negro sees in it his 
protector; while the white owes to the national debt his defeat, 
the negro owes to it his deliverance; while the white considers 
himself robbed and ruined by the emancipation of the slaves, 
the negro finds in it the assurance of future prosperity and 
happiness. In all the important issues the negro would be led 
by natural impulse to forward the ends of the government, and 
by making his influence, as part of the voting body, tell upon 
the legislation of the States, render the interference of the 
national authority/ unnecessary. 

As the most difficult of the pending questions are intimately 
connected with the status of the negro in southern society, it is 
obvious that a correct solution can be more easily obtained if 
he has a voice in the matter. In the right to vote w^e would find 
the best permanent protection against oppressive class-legisla- 
tion, as well as against individual persecution. . . It is a notor- 
ious fact that the rights of a man of some political power are 
far less exposed to violation than those of one who is, in matter 
of public interest, completely subject to the will of others. A 
voter is a man of influence ; small as that influence may be in the 
single individual, it becomes larger when the individual belongs 
to a numerous class of voters. . . Such an individual is an 
object of interest to the political parties that desire to have the 
benefit of his ballot. . . The first trials ought certainly to be 
made while the national power is still there to prevent or 
repress disturbances; but the practice once successfully inaug- 
urated under the protection of that power, it would probably be 
more apt than anything else to obliterate old antagonisms. . . 

The effect of the extension of the franchise to the colored 
people upon the developm.ent of free labor and upon the 



Consideration of Negro Suffrage 97 

security of human rights in the south being the principal object 
in view, the objections raised on the ground of the ignorance 
of the freedmen become unimportant. Practical liberty is a 
good school. . . It is Idle to say that it will be time to speak of 
negro suffrage when the whole colored race will be educated, 
for the ballot may be necessary to him to secure his education. 
It has been asserted that the negro would be a voting ma- 
chine in the hand of his employer. . . I have heard it said in 
the south that the freedmen are more likely to be influenced by 
their schoolmasters and preachers. But even if we suppose 
the employer to control to a certain extent the negro laborer's 
vote, two things are to be taken into consideration: i. The 
class of employers, of landed proprieties, will in a few years be 
very different from what it was heretofore in consequence of the 
general breaking up, a great many of the old slaveholders will 
be obliged to give up their lands and new men will step into 
their places; and 2. The employer will hardly control the vote 
of the negro laborer so far as to make him vote against his own 
liberty. The beneficial effect of an extension of suffrage does 
not always depend upon the intelligence with which the newly 
admitted voters exercise their right. . . The circumstances in 
which the freedmen of the south are placed are such that, 
when they only vote for their own liberty and rights, they vote 
for the rights of free labor, for the success of an immediate im- 
portant reform, for the prosperity of the country, and for the 
general interests of mankind. If, therefore, in order to control 
the colored vote, the employer . . is first obliged to concede to 
the freedman the great point of his own rights as a man and 
a free laborer, the great social reform is completed, the most 
difficult problem is solved. . . 

I deem it proper, however, to offer a few remarks on the 
assertion frequently put forth, that the franchise is likely to 
be extended to the colored man by the voluntary action of the 
southern whites themselves. My observation leads me to a 
contrary opinion. Aside from a very few enlightened men, I 
found but one class of people in favor of the enfranchisement 

of the blacks: it Avas the class of Unionists who found them- 

7 



98 Documentary History of Reconstruction 



selves politically ostracised and looked upon the enfranchise- 
ment of the loyal negroes as the salvation of the whole loyal 
element. . . The masses are strongly opposed to colored suf- 
frage, and anybody that dares to advocate it is stigmatized as a 
dangerous fanatic. . . 

The only manner in which, in my opinion, the southern 
people can be induced to grant to the freedmen some measure 
of self-protecting power in the form of suffrage, is to make it 
a condition precedent to "readmission." 

Negro Suffrage Will Come 

Senate Ex. Doc. no. .'j-i, 39 Cong.. 1 Sess. Report of B. C. Truman 
to the President. [April 9, 1866] 

So general and so bitter is the opposition of the whites to this 
measure, that I am fully persuaded that to confer suffrage 
forcibly, by national enactment, upon the blacks at this time, 
would result to their serious detriment. I do not believe it 
would beget a war of races, but, from the manner in which 
negro schools and other similar institutions have been treated 
in some sections by ignorant and malicious persons, I am con- 
strained to believe that the negro would be the recipient of more 
wrongs and injuries than he now is if he was found at the polls 
voting. It is the truth of history that, when classes of popula- 
tion are opposed in feeling and unequal in power and influence, 
the dominating class is oppressive and intolerant toward the 
inferior in reverse proportion as it is elevated above it. The 
southern poor whites, conscious as they are of only a slight 
superiority over the negro, and knowing that the suffrage and 
a few minor factitious distinctions are the chief points of their 
superiority, are jealous over them accordingly. It is they that 
will resist most stubbornly the negroes' enfranchisement, as it 
will remove the most marked of the few slight barriers that 
separate them from the blacks, and It Is they that will hall his 
advent to the polls with the most unrelenting and senseless 
abuse. 

The proper avenues of approach to these unreasoning minds 
is through the wealthy and powerful landowners of the south 



Consideration of Negro Suffrage 99 

— the politicians — who are lords and masters over the peas- 
antry to almost as great an extent as they are over the negroes. 
. . If the politicians of the south have the absolute certainty 
laid before them that in 1870 their representation in Congress 
will be diminished largely in consequence of the non-enfran- 
chisement of the negro, they will see to it before that time that 
the proper reform is introduced. They will convince their 
constituents that it is necessary and proper to allow the negro 
to vote, and he will be allowed so to do. At present it seems 
to me that it would be a misfortune to the negro himself to 
thrust this privilege upon him. . . 

The southern negro is far less concerned in the result of 
elections, at present, than he Is in the decisions of the local 
courts, and far less interested in these than in the general tem- 
per of society. The negro always has been and always must 
remain associated with the people of the south in a thousand 
intimate relations — relations over which legislation can have 
little control. . . Even before the courts of the country I have 
little fear but that he will secure substantial justice. These 
courts are generally in the hands of the more intelligent and 
reasonable classes, among whom there Is a sentiment of real 
pity towards the negro, as being now left to contend on his own 
resources against the stronger white man. Legislatures and 
common councils may frame mean-spirited and discriminating 
laws against him, but when he is brought to actual trial, and his 
helplessness is made apparent, the practice of his jurors, his 
judges, and his lawyers is much better than their professions. 
Especially is it true when the suit is, as it often happens, between 
a negro and a mean white. The old slave-owners always felt a 
preference for their negroes over this class, and even had a 
positive dislike towards the latter, and they entertain the same 
feelings still; and let a suit be brought between one of them 
and a respectable negro, and I have no fear for the result on 
the part of the negro. . . 

As an evidence of the most encouraging growth of public 
sentiment in the south, conforming to the great onward march 
of events, I may mention the advance that has taken place in 



lOO Documentary History of Reconstruction 



relation to the question of negro testimony. Eight months 
ago, when I first went south, the subject was one that scarcely 
engaged the serious attention of public men, much less their 
favorable consideration; but when the Texas convention, the 
last in the south, and only very recently assembled, came to- 
gether, so much had popular sentiment advanced on this sub- 
ject that only eight members of that body offered any opposi- 
tion to a measure proposing to allow the negro to testify in 
cases of his own concern, and nearly one-half the delegates 
favored giving him the most unrestricted right. A tremendous 
struggle was made over this last point — a struggle not for 
partial rights, but for universal privileges. The opponents of 
the measure strongly argued that if the negro was admitted to 
testify in all cases in which he or any of his race might be 
interested, his own rights were secured beyond peradventure, 
and he was legally placed on a better foundation than the white 
man, which is true; since, in Texas, a colored man can now 
subpoena witnesses both from whites and blacks, while a white 
man can summon only those of his own color. I know of no 
state among all that I visited in which either the constitution 
or statutes do not authorize the negro to testify in all cases in 
which he or any of his race may be interested. 



"Loyalist" Opposition to Negro Suffrage 

Report of Joint Committee on Reconstruction, part iii, p. 62. Tes- 
timony of M. J. Saffold, later a reconstructionist. Most "loyalists" 
opposed negro suffrage. [1866] 

If you compel us to carry through universal suffrage of colored 
men over tVv-enty-one years of age, . . it will prove quite an 
incubus upon us in the organization of a national Union party 
of white men there; It will furnish our opponents with a very 
effective weapon of warfare against us; at the same time, I 
want it understood that I have no prejudice whatever against 
qualified negro suffrage. I think the government of the United 
States is committed, by all its past legislation, to the policy of 
exercising some restriction upon the right of universal suffrage. 
Foreigners have not been permitted to vote until after a certain 



Consideration of Negro Suffrage loi 

term of residence In this country; minors have not been per- 
mitted to vote until arriving at a certain age. If the United 
States Government, then, recognizes the fact that some restric- 
tions are necessary and proper, it would seem to me that in an 
immense mass of colored people, who have just now had the 
chains stricken from them, who have been kept down under an 
institution, one feature of which has been founded in a belief 
that ignorance added to their value as slaves, it would not be 
wise or proper to enfranchise the whole of them now. 



The Negroes as Citizens 

Report of Joint Committee on Reconstruction, part iv, p. 149. Tes- 
timony of Stephen Powers, traveling correspondent of the Cincinnati 
Commercial. [1S66] 

Nine-tenths of the plantation negroes are living in a state 
of brutish ignorance, and have ver>' little comprehension of the 
issues of this war, beyond the mere fact that they were set at 
liberty and were set free. The house servants, the hotel wait- 
ers, and the residents of the cities are much more intelligent, 
and in many cases have exhibited a very commendable degree of 
information in regard to the issues of the war. . . Four-fifths 
of the negroes in the south have no just comprehension of the 
franchises and privileges of a free citizen. But there has been 
much improvement in that respect since the Christmas holidays. 
I think I have never known of any more complete industrial 
and social revolution than was accomplished during those holi- 
days. Up to that time the negroes had been thriftless, gay, 
improvident, and relying on what they confidently expected, 
the division of their old master's property at that time. They 
were, however, sorely disappointed, and for a time were dis- 
couraged and desponding. But they very soon recovered, how- 
ever, in consequence of their natural buoyancy, and have applied 
themselves to work for themselves and their families with a 
great degree of industry. They have by this time a pretty 
thorough understanding that it is necessary for them to pro- 
vide for themselves, and they are setting about in a rude. Ignor- 
ant way, which Is all that could have been expected of them. 



102 Documentary History of Reconstruction 



As for the right of suffrage, and In many cases the right to 
testify in courts, they have the most vague and shadowy ideas. 
I conversed with many of them, particularly the plantation ne- 
groes, about the right of suffrage, and I found them afraid to 
speak of it, as though it was something that was not to be 
meddled with by them. The common remark among them 
was, that they did know anything about it, that "massa had 
never said anything to them about it." If they were led to the 
polls, I think the act of voting with them would be a merely 
physical act, and that it would be accomplished with very little 
appreciation. 



II 

PLANS, THEORIES, AND PROBLEMS 
OF RECONSTRUCTION 



II 



PLANS, THEORIES, AND PROBLEMS 
OF RECONSTRUCTION 



INTRODUCTION 

From the very beginning of the Civil War the question 
of Reconstruction was discussed by the northern political 
leaders. Yet the end of the War found them far from 
any agreement as to the proper mode of restoring the 
Union. Discussion had simply made clear some of the 
problems which were to be solved and afforded oppor- 
tunity for the exposition of various plans for getting the 
South back into its former relations to the Union. Some 
of these problems were practical; some theoretical — all 
were of grave importance. Many of them arose 
out of the fact that our system of government is based on 
a written constitution to which all legislation is supposed 
to conform. Hence the leaders were puzzled by num- 
erous questions of constitutional theory. What was a 
state? What were State Rights and what was the effect 
of war upon them? Were the states in or out of the Union, 
United States territories or conquered provinces? Could 
the states be punished for secession? Were the Southern 
people conquered foreigners or conquered rebels? Had 
they any rights under the Constitution or according to 
the laws of nations? What rights had Southern Union- 
ists? What punishment should be inflicted and how 
could it be done legally? What was the status of slavery 
and of the negroes? Was the negro to be looked after 
by the states or by the United States? What rights had 
he? What should be the leading force in Reconstruction 
— Congress, or the Executive, or the Southern communi- 

105 



io6 Do cumentary History of Reconstruction 

ties? Was the "Union as it was" under the old consti- 
tution to be restored, or had the war developed a new and 
stronger one? These were some of the problems and 
they were no nearer a solution in 1865 than in 1861. 

Of the various plans and theories of Reconstruction the 
most important were : ( i ) The Presidential and Dem- 
ocratic theories as illustrated in the Crittenden-Johnson 
Resolutions of 186 1, the speeches of the War Democrats, 
and the statements and acts of Presidents Lincoln and 
Johnson; (2) The State Suicide theory of Charles Sumner; 
(3) The Conquered Province theory of Thaddeus Stev- 
ens; (4) The Wade-Davis plan; (5) The so-called 
Southern Plan, as outlined in the Sherman-Johnston 
convention; and (6) The Forfeited Rights theory finally 
adopted by Congress. Other plans were suggested by 
prominent northern men such as Governor Andrew of 
Massachusetts and by southerners like Howell Cobb and 
Herschel V. Johnson. The leading negroes, the aboli- 
tionists, and the Unionists of the South, all had sugges- 
tions to offer and demands to make. Nearly all of the 
plans proposed had in them a large proportion of consti- 
tutional theory and each showed a certain disregard of 
actual conditions in the section that was to be reorganized. 
The theoretical problems and the controversies that arose 
out of them, rather than the practical problems, were 
responsible for the long delay in Reconstruction and for 
many of the mistakes and failures that were made. 



REFERENCES 

President Lincoln's Views: Blaine, Twenty Years of Congress, vol. ii, 
ch. 21; Burgess, Reconstruction and the Constitution, ch. 2; Chadsey, 
President Johnson and Congress, ch. 1; Cox, Three Decades, ch. 17; 
Dunning, Essays on the Civil War and Reconstruction, p. 103; Fleming, 
Civil War and Reconstruction in Alabama, p. 335; Herbert, The Solid 
South, ch. 1; McCarthy, Lincoln's Plan of Reconstruction; Morse, 
Lincoln, vol. ii, ch. 8; Nicolay and Hiay, Lincoln, index; Rhodes, 
History of the United States, vol. v, pp. 52, 132, 133; Scott, Reconstruc- 
tion During the Civil W^ar. 

President Johnson's Plans and Theories: Burgess, ch. 3; Chadsey, ch. 2; 
Cox, ch. IS; Dunning, p. 104; Fleming, p. 337; Herbert, p. 8; McCul- 
loch. Men and Measures, p. 378; Rhodes, vol. v, ch. 30. 

Cbittenden-Johnson Resolutions: Chadsey, p. 9; Dunning, p. 104. 

The Wade-Davis Pl.\n: Burgess, p. 15; Chadsey, p. 19; Herbert, p. 4; 
Nicolay and Hay, vol. ix, ch. 5; Scott, index. 

The State Suicide Theory: Burgess, pp. 60, 61; Chadsey, p. 52; Dunning, 
p. 195; Fleming, p. 338; Reynolds, Reconstruction in South Carolina, 
p. 8; Rhodes, vol. v, passim. 

The Conquered Province Theory: Burgess, pp. 5, 8; Dunning, p. 107; 
Fleming, p. 339; McCall, ch. 13-16; Rhodes, vol. v, ch. 30. 

The Forfeited Rights Theory: Burgess, pp. 5, 84; Dunning, p. 109; Flem- 
ing, p. 341. 

The Sherman- Johnston Convention: Dunning, p. 101; Pollard, Lost 
Cause, p. 715; Rhodes, vol. v, p. 165; Sherman, Memoirs, vol. ii, p. 349. 



107 



I. LINCOLN'S PLANS AND SUGGESTIONS 



Nullity of Secession 

J. D. Richardson, Messages and Papers of the Presidents, vol. vi, 
p. 7. From Lincoln's inaugural address. [March 4, 1861] 

No State upon its mere motion can lawfully get out of the 
Union; resolves and ordinances to that effect are legally void. 
. . In view of the Constitution and the laws the Union is un- 
broken, and to the extent of my ability I shall take care, as the 
Constitution itself especially enjoins upon me, that the laws of 
the Union be faithfully executed in all the States. 



Amnesty Proclamation of 1863 

Richardson, Messages and Papers, vol. vi, p. 213. [December 8, 1863] 
Whereas in and by the Constitution of the United States it Is 
provided that the President "shall have power to grant re- 
prieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, 
except in cases of impeachment;" and 

JVhereas a rebellion now exists whereby the loyal State Gov- 
ernments of several States have for a long time been subv^erted, 
and many persons have committed and are now guilt}^ of trea- 
son against the United States; and 

JVhereas, with reference to said rebellion and treason, laws 
have been enacted by Congress declaring forfeitures and con- 
fiscation of property and liberation of slaves, all upon terms 
therein stated, and also declaring that the President was thereby 
authorized at any time thereafter, by proclamation, to extend 
to persons who may have participated in the existing rebel- 
lion in any State or part thereof pardon and amnesty, with 
such exceptions and at such times and on such conditions as he 
may deem expedient for the public welfare ; and 

JVhereas the Congressional declaration for limited and con- 
ditional pardon accords with well-established judicial exposi- 
tion of the pardoning power; and 

109 



no Documentary History of Reconstruction 



JVhereas, with reference to said rebellion, the President of 
the United States has issued several proclamations with pro- 
visions in regard to the liberation of slaves; and 

JJliereas it is now desired by some persons heretofore en- 
gaged in said rebellion to resume their allegiance to the United 
States and to reinaugurate loyal State governments within and 
for their respective States: Therefore — 

I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, do 
proclaim, declare, and make known to all persons who have, 
directly or by implication, participated in the existing rebellion, 
except as hereinafter excepted, that a full pardon is hereby 
granted to them and each of them, with restoration of all rights 
of property, except as to slaves, and In propert}^ cases where 
rights of third parties shall have Intervened, and upon the con- 
dition that every such person shall take and subscribe an oath, 
and thenceforu^ard keep and maintain said oath Inviolate; and 
which oath shall be registered for permanent preservation, and 
shall be of the tenor and effect following, to-wit: — 

"I, , do solemnly swear, in the pres- 
ence of Almighty God, that I will henceforth faithfully sup- 
port, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States 
and the Union of the States thereunder; and that I will In like 
manner, abide by and faithfully support all acts of Congress 
passed during the existing rebellion with reference to slaves, 
so long and so far as not repealed, modified, or held void by 
Congress, or by decision of the supreme court; and that I will, 
in like manner, abide by and faithfully support all proclama- 
tions of the President made during the existing rebellion hav- 
ing reference to slaves, so long and so far as not modified or 
declared void by decision of the supreme court. So help me 
God." 

The persons excepted from the foregoing provisions are all 
who are, or shall have been, military or naval officers of said 
so-called Confederate Government above the rank of colonel 
In the army or of lieutenant in the na\T; all who left seats in 
the United States Congress to aid the rebellion; all who re- 
signed commissions in the army or navy of the United States 



Lincoln s Plans and Suggestions iii 

and afterwards aided the rebellion; and all who have engaged 
in any way In treating colored persons, or white persons in 
charge of such, otherwise than lawfully as prisoners of war, 
and which persons may have been found in the United States 
service as soldiers, seamen, or in any other capacity. 

And I do further proclaim, declare, and make known that 
whenever, in any of the states of Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, 
Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Car- 
olina, and North Carolina, a number of persons, not less than 
one-tenth in number of the votes cast in such state at the presi- 
dential election of the year of our Lord one thousand eight 
hundred and sixty, each having taken the oath aforesaid, and 
not having since violated it, and being a qualified voter by the 
election law of the state existing immediately before the so- 
called act of secession, and excluding all others, shall re-estab- 
lish a state government which shall be republican, and in no 
wise contravening said oath, such shall be recognized as the 
true government of the state, and the state shall receive there- 
under the benefits of the constitutional provision which de- 
clares that "the United States shall guaranty to ev'ery state 
in this Union a republican form of government, and shall pro- 
tect each of them against invasion; and on application of the 
legislature, or the executive, (when the legislature cannot be 
convened), against domestic violence." 

And I do further proclaim, declare, and make known that 
any provision which may be adopted by such state government 
in relation to the freed people of such state, which shall rec- 
ognize and declare their permanent freedom, provide for their 
education, and which may yet be consistent as a temporary ar- 
rangement with their present condition as a laboring, landless, 
and homeless class, will not be objected to by the National 
Executive. 

And it is suggested as not improper that, in constructing a 
loyal state governmient in any state, the name of the state, the 
boundary, the subdivisions, the constitution, and the general 
code of laws, as before the rebellion, be maintained, subject 
only to the modifications made necessary by the conditions here- 



112 Documentary History of Reconstruction 



Inbefore stated, and such others, If any, not contravening said 
conditions, and which may be deemed expedient by those fram- 
ing the new state government. 

To avoid misunderstanding. It may be proper to say that 
this proclamation, so far as It relates to state governments, has 
no reference to states wherein loyal state governments have all 
the while been maintained. And, for the same reason, It may 
be proper to further say, that whether members sent to Con- 
gress from any state shall be admitted to seats constitutionally 
rests exclusively with the respective houses, and not to any ex- 
tent with the Executive. And still further, that this proclama- 
tion is Intended to present the people of the states wherein the 
national authorit}' has been suspended, and loyal state govern- 
ments have been subverted, a mode In and by which the na- 
tional authority and loyal state governments may be re-estab- 
lished within said states, or in any of themx ; and while the mode 
presented is the best the Executive can suggest, with his present 
impressions. It must not be understood that no other possible 
m.ode would be acceptable. 



Lincoln Suggests Negro Suffrage 

Nicolay and Hay, Lincoln's Complete WorTcs, vol. ii, p. 496. Letter 
to Governor Hahn of Louisiana. Used by permission of the Centurv 
Company. [March 13, IS'64] 

Now you are about to have a convention, which, . . will prob- 
ably define the elective franchise, I barely suggest, for your 
private consideration, whether some of the colored people may 
not be let In, as, for instance, the very intelligent, and especially 
those who have fought gallantly in our ranks. They vvould 
probably help, in some trying time to come, to keep the jewel 
of liberty within the family of freedom. But this Is only a 
suggestion, not to the public, but to you alone. 



Proclamation on the Wade-Davis Bill 

Richardson, Messages and Papers, vol. vi, p. 223. [July 8, 1864] 

And whereas the said bill contains, among other things, a plan 
for restoring the states In rebellion to their proper practical 



Lincoln's Plans and Suggestions 113 

relations in the Union, which plan expresses the sense of con- 
gress upon that subject, and which plan it is now thought fit to 
lay before the people for their consideration : 

Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the 
United States, do proclaim, declare, and make known, that, 
while I am (as I was in Decem.ber last, when by proclamation 
I propounded a plan for restoration) unprepared by a formal 
approval of this bill, to be inflexibly committed to any single 
plan of restoration; and while I am also unprepared to declare 
that the free state constitutions and governments already 
adopted and installed in Arkansas and Louisiana shall be set 
aside and held for nought, thereby repelling and discouraging 
the loyal citizens who have set up the same as to further effort, 
or to declare a constitutional competency in congress to abolish 
slaverv in states, but am at the same time sincerely hoping 
and expecting that a constitutional am.endment abolishing 
slavery throughout the nation may be adopted, nevertheless I 
am. fully satisfied with the system for restoration contained in 
the bill as one very proper plan for the loyal people of any 
state choosing to adopt it, and that I am, and at all times shall 
be, prepared to give the executiv^e aid and assistance to any 
such people, so soon as the military resistance to the United 
States shall have been suppressed ,in any such state, and 
the people thereof shall have sufficiently returned to their 
obedience to the constitution and the laws of the United States, 
in which cases military governors will be appointed, with direc- 
tions to proceed according to the bill. ^ 



Memorandum of Conditions of Peace 

JoTinson MSS. Unsigned paper given by Lincoln while in Rich- 
mond to J. A. Campbell, late Confederate Assistant Secretary of 
War. [April 5, 1865] 

As to peace, I have said before, and now repeat, that three 
things are indispensable. 

I. The restoration of the national authority, throughout 
all the States. 



1. For the bill see page 118. 
8 



114 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

2. No receding by the Executive of the United States on 
the slavery question, from the position assumed thereon, in 
the late Annual Message to Congress, and in preceding docu- 
ments. 

3. No cessation of hostilities short of an end of the war, 
and the disbanding of all force hostile to the government. 

That all propositions coming from those now in hostility 
to the government, and not inconsistent with the foregoing, 
will be respectfully considered, and passed upon in a spirit of 
sincere liberality. 

I now add that it seems useless for me to be more specific 
with those who will not say they are ready for the indispensable 
terms, even on conditions to be named by themselves. If there 
be any who are ready for those indispensable terms, on any 
conditions whatever, let them say so, and state their conditions, 
so that such conditions can be distinctly known, and considered. 
It is further added that, the remission of confiscations being 
within the executive power, if the war be now further persisted 
in, by those opposing the government, the making of confis- 
cated property at the least to bear the additional cost, will be 
insisted on; but that confiscations (except in cases of third party 
intervening interests) will be remitted to the people of any 
State which shall now promptly, and in good faith, withdraw 
Its troops and other support, from further resistance to the 
government. 

What is now said as to remission of confiscations has no ref- 
erence to supposed property in slaves. 



"A Merely Pernicious Abstraction" 

Nicolay and Hay, Complete Works of Lincoln, vol. ii, p. 672. From 
Lincoln's last speech. Used by permission of the Century Com- 
pany. [April 11, 1865] 

In the annual message of December, 1863, and in the accom- 
panying proclamation, I presented a plan of reconstruction (as 
the phrase goes), which I promised, if adopted by any State, 
should be acceptable to and sustained by the executive govern- 
ment of the nation. I distinctly stated that this was not the 



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'•/:^ 






ix^^t-f^^iUj Lo i>ff\j .jg,. 



C!,C;^->-<^ L~r\^C3C ^-»?]^rT-J Wf^ ^.v^x-^U^ />u,'-ti^^-- /^^j ^^ ^->^ x-a-^^ly/f^^ 
'•C^^uO l^y-o^ ,/u2-^~^, .a..,.^^. f.k>^y^^ 2^--r ^ ^~i^ ' ,r-j,„i^.^lZ^-^-^i ''rT i^ 



Lincoln's Conditions of Peace; Unsigned Memorandum Given to 

I. A. Campbell, Confederate Assistant Secretary of War, 

April 5, 1 865 

^Facsimile of original MS. in Lihrnrs of Cvngrrss^ 



Lincoln's Plans and Suggestions 115 



only plan which might possibly be acceptable, and I also dis- 
tinctly protested that the executive claimed no right to say when 
or whether members should be admitted to seats in Congress 
from such States. This plan was, in advance, submitted to 
the then Cabinet, and distinctly approved by every member 
of it. . . 

[Regret has been expressed] that my mind has not seemed 
to be definitely fixed on the question whether the seceded States, 
so called, are in the Union or out of it. . . I have purposely 
forborne any public expression upon it. As it appears to me, 
that question has not been, nor yet is, a practically material 
one, and that any discussion of it while it thus remains prac- 
tically immaterial, could have no effect other than the mis- 
chievous one of dividing our friends. As yet . . that question 
is bad as a basis of controversy, and good for nothing at all 
— a merely pernicious abstraction. 

We all agree that the seceded States, so called, are out of 
their proper practical relation with the Union, and that the 
sole object of the Government, civil and military, in regard 
to those States is to again get them into that proper practical 
relation. I believe that it is not only possible, but in fact 
easier, to do this without deciding or even considering whether 
these States have ever been out of the Union, than with it. 
Finding themselves safely at home, it would be utterly imma- 
terial whether they had ever been abroad. Let us all join 
in doing the acts necessary to restore the proper practical rela- 
tions between these States and the Union, and each forever 
after innocently indulge his own opinion whether in doing the 
acts he brought the States from without into the Union, or only 
gave them proper assistance, they never having been out of it. 

So great peculiarities pertain to each State, and such impor- 
tant and sudden changes occur in the same State, and withal so 
new and unprecedented is the whole case, that no exclusive and 
inflexible plan can safely be prescribed as to details and col- 
laterals. Such an exclusive and inflexible plan would surely 
becom.e a new entanglement. 



JOHNSON'S OPINIONS AND THEORIES 



"Treason Must be Made Odious" 

E. McPherson, Political History of Reconstruction, p. 46. From a 
speech made by Johnson in Nashville. [June 9, 1864] 

Traitors should take a back seat in the work of restoration. 
If there be but five thousand men in Tennessee loyal to the 
Constitution, loyal to freedom, loyal to justice, these true and 
faithful men should control the work of re-organization and 
reformation absolutely. I say that the traitor has ceased to be 
a citizen, and in joining the rebellion has become a public 
enemy. He forfeited his right to vote with loyal men when 
he renounced his citizenship and sought to destroy our Gov- 
ernment. . . If we are so cautious about foreigners, who vol- 
untarily renounce their homes to live with us what should we 
say to the traitor, who, although born and reared among us, 
has raised a parricidal hand against the Government which 
always protected him? My judgment is that he should be 
subjected to a severe ordeal before he is restored to citizenship. 
. . Treason must be made odious, and traitors must be pun- 
ished and impoverished. Their great plantations must be 
seized, and divided into small farms, and sold to honest, indus- 
trious men. 

The States not Destroyed 

Anmial Cyclopedia, 1865, p. 801. Speech to a delegation from Indi- 
ana. [April 21, 1865] 

Upon this idea of destroying States my position has been here- 
tofore well known, and I see no cause to change it now. . . 
Some are satisfied with the idea that States are to be lost in 
territorial and other divisions — are to lose their character as 
States. But their life-breath has only been suspended, and it 
is a high constitutional obligation we have to secure each of 
these States in the possession and enjoyment of a republican 
form of Government. A State may be in the Government with 
a peculiar institution, and by the operation of a rebellion lose 
that feature. But it was a State when it went into a rebellion, 
and when it comes out without the institution it is still a State. 

ii6 



JoJinsoii's Opinions and Theories iij 

Functions of the States Suspended 

Richardson, Messages and Papers, vol. vi, p. 357. From Message to 
Congress. Professor William A. Dunning lias recently shown that 
this message was written by George Bancroft, the historian. See 
American Historical Review, April, 1906. [December 4, 1865] 

The true theory Is that all pretended acts of secession were 
from the beginning null and void. The States can not com- 
mit treason nor screen the Individual citizens who may have 
committed treason any more than they can make valid treaties 
or engage In lawful commerce with any foreign power. The 
States attempting to secede placed themselves In a condition 
where their vitality was Impaired, but not extinguished; their 
functions suspended, but not destroyed. 

Danger in Negro Suffrage 

McPherson, History of Reconstruction, p. 49. An interview with 
G. L. Stearns. [October 3, 1865] 

It would not do to let the negro have universal suffrage now; 
it would breed a war of races. There was a time In the South- 
ern States when the slaves of large owners looked down upon 
non-slave owners because they did not own slaves; . . this 
has produced hostility between the mass of the whites and the 
negroes. The outrages are mostly from non-slave holding 
whites against the negro, and from the negro upon the non- 
slaveholdlng whites. The negro will vote with the late master, 
whom he does not hate, rather than with the non-slaveholding 
white, whom he does hate. Universal suffrage will create 
another war, not against us, but a war of races. 



THEORIES AND PLANS OF CONGRESS 



The Crittenden Resolutions 

Congressional Globe, July 22, 1861. These resolutions adopted by 
the House of Representatives were introduced by Crittenden of Ken- 
tucky. Three days later Andrew Johnson of Tennessee introduced 
almost identical resolutions in the Senate. In both houses they 
-were adopted by large majorities. [July 22, 1861] 

Resolved, . . That the present deplorable civil war has been 
forced upon the country by the disunionists of the southern 
States, now in arms against the constitutional government, and 
in arms around the capital; that in this national emergency, 
Congress, banishing all feelings of mere passion or resentment, 
will collect only its duty to the whole country; that this war 
is not waged on their part in any spirit of oppression, or for 
any purpose of conquest or subjugation, or purpose of over- 
throwing or interfering with the rights or established institu- 
tions of those States, but to defend and maintain the supremacy 
of the Constitution, and to preserve the Union with all the dig- 
nity, equality, and rights of the several States unimpaired; 
and that as soon as these objects are accomplished the war 
ought to cease. 



The Wade-Davis Plan 

Richardson, Messages and Papers, vol. vi, p. 223. This bill was sent 
to the President on July 2, 1864, but he withheld his approval and 
it failed to become a law. On July 8, after the adjournment of 
Congress, he issued a proclamation regarding reconstruction in 
which he offered to recognize any reconstruction that might be done 
in accord with the provisions of the Wade-Davis bill. [July 2, 1864] 

Be it enacted, . . That in the States declared in rebellion 
against the United States the President shall, by and with 
the advice and consent of the Senate, appoint for each a pro- 
visional governor, whose pay and emoluments shall not ex- 
ceed that of a brigadier-general of volunteers, who shall be 
charged with the civil administration of such States until a 
State government therein shall be recognized as hereinafter 
provided. 

ii8 



Theories and Plans of Congress 119 

Sec. 2. . . So soon as the military resistance to the United 
States shall have been suppressed in any such State and the 
people thereof shall have returned sufficiently to their obedi- 
ence to the Constitution and the laws of the United States the 
provisional governor shall direct the marshal of the United 
States, as speedily as may be, to name a sufficient number of 
deputies, and tofenroll all white male citizens of the United 
States resident in the State in their respective counties, and to 
request each one to take the oath to support the Constitution 
of the United States, and In his enrollment to designate those 
who take and those who refuse to take that oath, which rolls 
shall be forthw^ith returned to the provisional governor; and if 
the persons taking that oath shall amount to a majority of the 
persons enrolled In the State, he shall, by proclamation. Invite 
the loyal people of the State to elect delegates to a conven- 
tion charged to declare the will of the people of the State rela- 
tive to the reestablishment of a State government, subject to 
and in conformity Vv'ith the Constitution of the United States."^ 

Sec. 3. . . The \^conventIon shall consist of as many mem- 
bers as both houses of the last constitutional State legislature, 'v 
apportioned by the provisional governor among the counties, 
parishes or districts of the State, In proportion to the white 
population returned as electors^by the marshal in compliance 
with the provisions of this act. The provisional governor 
shall, by proclamation, declare the number of delegates to be 
elected by each county, parish, or election district; name a day 
of election not less than thirty days thereafter; designate the 
places of voting In each county, parish, or district, conforming 
as nearly as may be convenient to the places used In the State 
elections next preceding the rebellion ; appoint one or more 
commissioners to hold the election at each place of voting, and 
provide an adequate force to keep the peace during the elec- 
tion. 

Sec. 4. . . The- delegates shall be elected by the loyal white 
male citizens of the United States of the age of 21 years, and 
resident at the time In the county, parish, or district In which 
they shall offer to vote, and enrolled as aforesaid, or absent 



120 Documentary History of Reconstruction 



in the military service of the United States, and who shall 
take and subscribe the oath of allegiance to the United States 
in the form contained in the Act of Congress of July 2nd, 
1 862;^ and all such citizens of the United States who are in 
the military service of the United States shall vote at the head- 
quarters of their respective commands, under such regulations 
as may be prescribed by the provisional governor for the tak- 
ing and return of their votes; but^io person who has held or 
exercised any office, civil or military, State or Confederate, 
under the rebel usurpation, or who has voluntarily borne arms 
against the United States, shall vote or be eligible to be elected 
as delegate at such election. *> 

Sec. 5. . . The said commissioners, or either of them, shall 
hold the election in conformity with this act, and, so far as 
may be consistent therewith, shall proceed In the manner used 
in the State prior to the rebellion. The oath of allegiance 
shall be taken and subscribed on the poll book by every voter 
In the form above prescribed, but^very person known by or 
proved to the commissioners to have held any office, civil or 
military. State or Confederate, under the rebel usurpation, or 
to have voluntarily borne arms against the United States, shall 
be excluded though he offer to take the oath; and in case any 
person who shall have borne arms against the United States 
shall offer to vote, he shall be deemed to have borne arms 
voluntarily unless he can prove the contrary by the testimony of 
a qualified voter.^^ The poll book, showing the name and oath 
of each voter, shall be returned to the provisional governor by 
the commissioners of election, or the one acting, and the pro- 
visional governor shall canvass such returns and declare the 
person having the highest number of votes elected. 

Sec. 6. . . The provisional governor shall, by proclamation, 
convene the delegates elected as aforesaid at the capital of 
the State on a day not more than three months after the elec- 
tion, giving at least thirty days' notice of such day. In case 
the said capital shall in his judgment be unfit, he shall In his 
proclamation appoint another place. He shall preside over 
the deliberations of the convention and administer to each dele- 



Theories atid Plans of Congress I2i 

gate, before taking his seat in the convention, the oath of alle- 
giance to the United States in the form above prescribed. 

Sec. 7. . . The convention shall declare on behalf of the 
people of the State their submission to the Constitution and 
laws of the United States, and shall adopt the following pro- 
visions, hereby prescribed by the United States in the execu- 
tion of the constitutional duty to guarantee a republican form 
of government to every State, and incorporate them in the 
constitution of the State. . . 

< First. No person who has held or exercised any office, 
civil or military (except offices merely ministerial and military 
offices below the grade of colonel). State or Confederate, under 
the usurping power, shall vote for or be a member of the leg- 
islature or governor.^ 

Second. Involuntary servitude is forever prohibited, and 
the freedom of all persons is guaranteed in said State. 

Third. No debt, State or Confederate, created by or under 
the sanction of the usurping power shall be recognized or paid 
by the State. 

Sec. 8. . . When the convention shall have adopted those 
provisions it shall proceed to reestablish a republican form of 
government and ordain a constitution containing those pro- 
visions, which, when adopted, the convention shall by ordinance 
provide for submitting to the people of the State entitled to 
vote under this law, at an election to be held in the manner 
prescribed by the act for the election of delegates, but at a 
time and place named by the convention, at which election, 
the said electors, and none others, shall vote directly for or 
against such constitution and form of State government. And 
the returns of said election shall be made to the provisional 
governor, who shall canvass the same in the presence of the 
electors, and if a majoritv of the votes cast shall be for the 
constitution and form of government, he shall certify the 
same, with a copy thereof, to the President of the United 
States, who, after obtaining the consent of Congress, shall, by 
proclamation, recognize the government so established, and 
none other, as the constitutional government of the State; and 



122 Documentary History of Reconstruction 



from the date of such recognition, and not before, Senators 
and Representatives and electors for President and Vice-Presi- 
dent may be elected in such State, according to the laws of the 
State and of the United States. 

Sec. 9. . .If the convention shall refuse to reestablish the 
State government on the conditions aforesaid the provisional 
governor shall declare it dissolved; but it shall be the duty 
of the President, whenever he shall have reason to believe that 
a sufficient number of the people of the State entitled to vote 
under this act, in number not less than a majority of those 
enrolled as aforesaid, are willing to reestablish a State govern- 
ment on the conditions aforesaid, to direct the provisional 
governor to order another election of delegates to a convention 
for the purpose and in the manner prescribed in this act, and 
to proceed in all respects as hereinbefore provided, either to 
dissolve the convention or to certify the State government 
reestablished by it to the President. 

Sec. 10. . . Until the United States shall have recognized 
a republican form of State government the provisional gov- 
ernor in each of said States shall see that this act and the laws 
of the United States and the laws of the State in force when 
the State government was overthrown by the rebellion are 
faithfully executed within the State; but no law or usage 
whereby any person was heretofore held in involuntary servi- 
tude shall be recognized or enforced by any court or officer 
in such State; and the laws for the trial and punishment of 
white persons shall extend to all persons, and jurors shall 
have the qualifications of voters under this law for delegates 
to the convention. The President shall appoint such officers 
provided for by the law of the State when its government was 
overthrown as he may find necessary to the civil administra- 
tion of the State, all which officers shall be entitled to receive 
the fees and emoluments provided by the State laws for such 
officers. 

Sec. II. . . Until the recognition of a State government as 
aforesaid the provisional governor shall, under such regula- 
tions as he may prescribe, cause to be assessed, levied, and col- 



Theories and Plans of Congress 123 

lected, for the year 1864 and every year thereafter, the taxes 
provided by the laws of such State to be levied during the 
fiscal year preceding the overthrow of the State gov^ernment 
thereof, in the manner prescribed by the laws of the State, 
as nearly as may be; and the officers appointed as aforesaid 
are vested with all powers of levying and collecting such taxes, 
by distress or sale, as were vested in any officers or tribunal 
of the State government aforesaid for those purposes. The 
proceeds of such taxes shall be accounted for to the provisional 
governor and be by him applied to the expenses of the admin- 
istration of the laws in such State, subject to the direction of 
the President, and the surplus shall be deposited in the Treasury 
of the United States to the credit of such State, to be paid to 
the State upon an appropriation therefor to be made when 
a republican form of government shall be recognized therein 
by the United States. 

Sec. 12. . . All persons held to involuntary servitude or 
labor in the States aforesaid are hereby emancipated and dis- 
charged therefrom, and they and their posterity shall be for- 
ever free. And if any such persons or their posterity shall be 
restrained of liberty under pretense of any claim to such service 
or labor, the courts of the United States shall, on habeas corpus, 
discharge them. 

Sec. 13. . . If any person declared free by this act, or any 
law of the United States or any proclamation of the Presi- 
dent, be restrained of liberty with intent to be held in or 
reduced to involuntary servitude or labor, the person convicted 
before a court of competent jurisdiction of such act shall be 
punished by a fine of not less than $1,500 and be imprisoned 
not less than five nor more than twenty years. 

Sec. 14. . . Every person who shall hereafter hold or exer- 
cise any office, civil or military (except offices merely minis- 
terial and military offices below the grade of colonel), in the 
rebel service. State or Confederate, is hereby declared not to 
be a citizen of the United States. 



124 Documentary History of Reconstruction 
The "Forfeited Rights" Plan 

Report of Joint Committee on Reconstruction, p. xiii. From the 
majority report. This was the theory finally acted upon by Con- 
gress in reconstructing the Southern States. [June 20, 1866] 

Your committee came to the consideration of the subject re- 
ferred to them with the most anxious desire to ascertain what 
was the condition of the people of the States recently in insur- 
rection, and what, if anything, was necessary to be done before 
restoring them to the full enjoyment of all their original priv- 
ileges. It was undeniable that the war Into which they had 
plunged the country had materially changed their relations to 
the people of the loyal States. Slavery had been abolished 
by constitutional amendment. A large proportion of the pop- 
ulation had become, Instead of mere chattels, free men and 
citizens. Through all the past struggle these had remained 
true and loyal, and had. In large numbers, fought on the side 
of the Union. It was Impossible to abandon them, without 
securing them their rights as free men and citizens. . . Hence 
it became Important to inquire what could be done to secure 
their rights, civil and political. It was evident to your com- 
mittee that adequate security could only be found in appro- 
priate constitutional provisions. By an original provision of 
the Constitution, representation is based on the whole number 
of free persons In each State, and three-fifths of all other per- 
sons. When all become free, representation for all necessarily 
follows. As a consequence the inevitable effect of the rebel- 
lion would be to Increase the political power of the insurrec- 
tionary States, whenever they should be allowed to resume their 
position as States of the Union. . . It did not seem just or 
proper that all the political advantages derived from their 
becoming free should be confined to their former masters, who 
had fought against the Union, and withheld from themselves, 
who had always been loyal. . . Doubts were entertained 
whether Congress had power, even under the amended Con- 
stitution, to prescribe the qualifications of voters In a State, or 
could act directly on the subject. It was doubtful . . 
whether the States would consent to surrender a power they 
had always exercised, and to which they were attached. As 



Theories and Plans of Congress 12^ 

the best if not the only method of surmounting the difficult}^, 
and as eminently just and proper in itself, your committee came 
to the conclusion that political power should be possessed in all 
the States exactly in proportion as the right of suffrage should 
be granted, without distinction of color or race. This it was 
thought would leave the whole question with the people of 
each State, holding out to all the advantage of increased politi- 
cal power as an inducement to allow all to participate in its 
exercise. Such a provision would be in its nature gentle and 
persuasive, and would lead, it was hoped, at no distant day, 
to an equal participation of all, without distinction, in all the 
rights and privileges of citizenship, thus affording a full and 
adequate protection to all classes of citizens, since all would 
have, through the ballot-box, the power of self-protection. . . 

From the time these Confederate States thus withdrew their 
representation in Congress and levied war against the United 
States, the great mass of the people became and were insur- 
gents, rebels, traitors, and all of them assumed and occupied 
the political, legal, and practical relation of enemies of the 
United States. . . their people reduced to the condition of 
enemies, conquered in war, entitled only by public law to such 
rights, privileges, and conditions as might be vouchsafed by the 
conqueror. . . 

Having reduced themselves . . to the condition of public 
enemies, they have no right to complain of temporary exclu- 
sion from Congress; but on the contrary, having voluntarily 
renounced the right to representation, and disqualified them- 
selves by crime from participating In the Government, the bur- 
den now rests upon them . . to show that they are qualified 
to resume federal relations. . . They must prove that they 
have established, with the consent of the people, republican 
forms of government in harmony with the Constitution and 
laws of the United States, that all hostile purposes have ceased, 
and should give adequate guarantees against future treason and 
rebellion. . . 

Having by this treasonable withdrawal from Congress, and 
by flagrant rebellion and war, forfeited all civil and political 



126 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

rights and privileges under the Constitution, they can only 
be restored thereto by the permission and authority of that 
constitutional power against which they rebelled and by which 
they were subdued. . . 

The powers of conqueror are not so vested in the President 
that he can fix and regulate the terms of settlement and con- 
fer congressional representation on conquered rebels and 
traitors. Nor can he in any way, qualify enemies of the Gov- 
ernment to exercise its lawmaking power. The authority to 
restore rebels to political power In the Federal Government 
can be exercised only with the concurrence of all the depart- 
ments in which political power is vested. . . 

If the President may, at his will, and under his own author- 
ity, whether as military commander or chief executive, qualify 
persons to appoint Senators and elect Representatives, and em- 
power others to appoint and elect them, he thereby practically 
controls the organization of the legislative department. The 
constitutional form of government Is thereby practically des- 
troyed, and Its powers absorbed In the Executive. . . 

With such evidence before them, It Is the opinion of your 
committee — 

I. That the States lately In rebellion were, at the close 
of the war, disorganized communities, without civil govern- 
ment, and without constitutions or other forms, by virtue of 
which political relations could legally exist between them and 
the federal government. 

II. That Congress cannot be expected to recognize as 
valid the election of representatives from disorganized com- 
munities, which, from the very nature of the case, were un- 
able to present their claim to representation under those estab- 
lished and recognized rules, the observance of which has been 
hitherto required. 

III. That Congress would not be justified In admitting 
such communities to a participation in the government of the 
country without first providing such constitutional or other 
guarantees as will tend to secure the civil rights of all citi- 
zens of the republic; a just equality of representation; pro- 



Theories and Plans of Congress 127 

tection against claims founded in rebellion and crime; a tem- 
porary restoration of the right of suffrage to those who had 
not actively participated in the efforts to destroy the Union 
and overthrow the government, and the exclusion from posi- 
tions of public trust of, at least, a portion of those whose 
crimes have proved them to be enemies to the Union, and 
unworthy of public confidence. 



4. SOUTHERN VIEWS ON RECONSTRUCTION 



Suggestions by Howell Cobb 

Johnson MSS. Letter from Gen. Howell Cobb to Gen. J. H. Wilson, 
written at the request of the latter, for transmission to the Presi- 
dent. Cobb, before the war, was a member of Congress from 
Georgia, Speaker of the House, governor of Georgia, Secretary of 
the Treasury. During the Civil War he was in the Confederate 
Congress and later a general in the Confederate army. 

[June 14, isre'a] 

I WAS a secessionist, and counselled the people of Georgia to 
secede. When the adoption of that policy resulted in War, I 
felt it my duty to share in the privations of the struggle, and 
accordingly at the commencement of the contest, I entered the 
army. . . I was an earnest supporter of the cause through- 
out the struggle. Upon the surrender of General Johnston 
I regarded the contest at an end, and have since that time 
conformed my action to that conviction. . . 

The contest has ended in the subjugation of the South. The 
parties stand towards each other in the relative positions of 
conqueror and conquered; and the question for statesmen to 
decide, is, the policy and duty of the respective parties. With 
the latter the course is plainly marked out alike by the require- 
ments of duty and necessity. . . A return to the peaceful 
and quiet employments of life; obedience to the constitution 
and laws of the United States; and the faithful discharge of all 
the duties, and obligations, imposed upon them by the new 
state of things, constitute their plain and simple duty. 

The policy to be adopted by the other party, is not so easily 
determined. . . The hour of triumph, is not necessarily, an 
hour for calm reflection, or wise judgments. . . 

In the adoption of the policy, which the Government will 
pursue towards the people of the South, there are two matters 
which present themselves for primary and paramount consid- 
eration. 1st, the present condition of things in the South. 
2nd, the state of things it is desirable to produce, and the best 
mode of doing It. . . 

128 



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Facsimile of First Page of General Howell Cobb's Letter on 

Reconstruction, June 14, 1865 

[ From original MS. in Library of Congress^ 



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Southern Views on Reconstruction 129 

The whole country [South] has been more or less devas- 
tated. Their physical condition in "he loss of property, and 
the deprivation of the comforts of life . . is as bad, as their 
worst enemy could desire. If left to employ all their re- 
sources . . it would require much time to recover from the 
effects of a devastating war. The abolition of slavery not 
only deprives them of a large property, but revolutionizes the 
whole system of agricultural labor; and must necessarily retard 
the restoration of former prosperity. So completely has this 
institution been interwoven with the whole frame work of 
society, that its abolition involves a revision, and modification 
of almost every page of the Statute books of the States, where 
it has existed. It is with a people, thus depressed in mind, 
seriously injured in estate, and surrounded by embarrassing 
questions of the greatest magnitude, that the Government has 
to deal. . . The avowed object of the Government v>-as to 
restore the Union. The successful termination of the war has 
effected that result, so far as further resistance on the part 
of the South is concerned. The people of the South, being 
prepared to conform to thr.t result, all else for the restoration 
of the Union is in the hands of the Governm.ent. 

Looking to the future interests not only of the southern peo- 
ple, but of the whole country, it is desirable that the bitter 
animosities . . should be softened, as much as possible: and a 
devastated country restored . . to comparative prosperity. To 
effect these results requires the exercise of virtues, which the 
history of the World shows, are not often, if ever found, in 
the hearts of the conquerors, magnanimity and generosity. 
The World is sadly in need of such an example. Let the 
United States furnish it. There never was a more fitting op- 
portunity. It will never be followed by more satisfactory 
results. . . 

The prejudices and passions which have been aroused in 
this contest, crimsoned in the blood of loved ones, from every 
portion of the land, will yield only to the mellowing influences 
of time, — and the ^^oungest participant in the struggle will 
scarcely live to see the last shadow pass away. It is for those 



130 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

in whose hands, the power is entrusted, to deal with a brave 
and generous though conquered people, in such a spirit, as will 
most certainly and speedily ensure the desired result. The 
confidence of such a people can be won by kindness and gen- 
erosity. I leave it for those who counsel a different policy, 
to foreshadow the effects of a contrar^^ course. They may be 
able to see, how more blood, and more suffering will sooner 
restore kindlier feelings. I cannot. In the sufferings already 
endured, and the privations of the present, there appears to 
me ample atonement, to satisfy the demands of those, who 
would punish the South for the past. For the security of the 
future no such policy is required. 

Giving to these general principles the form of practical 
recommendation, I would say that, all prosecutions and pen- 
alties should cease, against those who stand charged alone with 
the offense of being parties to, and supporters of the southern 
cause. . . The time for the exercise of this power of general 
amnesty with which the President is clothed, will arrive when 
he is satisfied, that the people of the South have abandoned the 
contest, and have in good faith returned to their allegiance 
to the United States. . . In such a policy there vrould be ex- 
hibited a spirit of magnanimity, which would find its reward 
in the happiest results. 

If my voice could he heard in the councils of the Govern- 
ment . . I should seek to restore concord and good feeling by 
extending it to those, from whom I asked it in return; and 
by a course of generous confidence to win the willing and 
cheerful support of those whose loyalty and allegiance Vvhen 
thus won, could be relied upon. No man will doubt, that 
the man who is received back into the Union, and feels, that 
he has been subjected to no severe penalty, and been required 
to submit to no humiliating test, will make a truer and better 
citizen, than the one who feels that his citizenship has been 
obtained by submitting to harsh and degrading terms, which 
he was compelled to yield to, to secure the rights he has 
acquired. . . Secure the honest loyalty of the people, by ex- 
tending to them a generous confidence, but do not ask them to 
win your confidence, by losing their own self respect. . . 



Southern Vieics on Reconstruction 131 

By the abolition of slavery . . a state of things has been 
produced, well calculated to excite the most serious apprehen- 
sions with the people of the South, I regard the result as 
unfortunate both for the white and black. The institution of 
slavery, In my judgment provided the best system of labor that 
could be devised for the negro race. . . It Is due both to 
the white population and the negroes that the present state of 
things, should not remain. You will find that our people are 
fully prepared to conform to the new state of things; and . . 
will be disposed to pursue towards the negroes, a course dictated 
by humanity and kindness. I take it for granted, that the 
future relations, between the negroes and their former owners, 
like all other questions of domestic policy, will be under the 
control and direction of the State Governments. . . For the 
remainder of the present year, there may not be very serious 
troubles, but there should be a more certain and well defined 
system for the future, than can be enforced under military regu- 
lations which are necessarily vague and Indefinite; and do not 
meet many questions that arise. . . 

Whilst there has been no action on the part of the Govern- 
ment to justify it, there is a serious apprehension felt, that a 
system of taxation is contemplated which will impose such 
burthens upon the people, as they cannot meet; and will end in 
the virtual confiscation of their estates. . . In the collections of 
any taxes the fact that there is no money In the hands of the 
people, and no means of obtaining It at an early day, should be 
remembered. Time should be given to tax payers to obtain 
the necessary funds, and thus save the remnants of their former 
estates. . . 

I am fully conscious of the fact, that what I have said. Is 
subject to the criticism of proceeding from an Interested party. 
This Is true. I am Interested, deeply Interested in the question, 
not so much for myself, for I have no future, but for my 
family, my friends, my countrymen — but we are not the only 
persons interested in the solution of this great problem which 
stands in the history of the world, without precedent or 
parallel. . . So is ev'ery man who feels an interest In the future 
not of the South only, but of the whole country. 



132 Documentary History of Reconstruction 
Herschel V. Johnson on Reconstruction 

Johnson il/^'.S'. Letter from Johnson to H. M. Watterson, at the 
request of the latter, for transmission to the President. Johnson, 
before the Civil War, had been U. S. Senator, justice of the Georgia 
Supreme Court and governor of Georgia. He was candidate for vice 
president on the Douglas ticket in 1860. As a member of the Con- 
federate Congress he had favored negotiations for peace. In 1865 
he was president of the Georgia Constitutional Convention. 

[October 28, 1865] 

After the States shall have organized their governments on 
the basis indicated by the President, I would be pleased, if he 
would publish a Proclamation to the effect that they are entitled 
to representation in Congress, provided they should elect 
Senators and Representatives constitutionally qualified to hold 
seats in the two respective branches. . . It would not only 
delight the Southern States, but, in my judgment. It would be 
a stroke of masterly policy. For being constitutionally quali- 
fied, no party in the North can be sustained who will advocate 
their rejection. 

Such a proclamation will present the issue distinctly, in ad- 
vance of the assembling of Congress, whether the Union can 
be fully restored upon Constitutional grounds. This involves 
two distinct advantages. First, it will elicit the popular will 
in time to produce a salutary effect upon the members of 
Congress from the Northern and Western States and thus 
develop the strength of the Conservative element in those 
states. Secondly, The radicals, who intend to make vrar on 
the President, will have to accept the issue thus tendered, of 
restoration and reconstruction upon the basis of the Constitu- 
tion and force them to take the initiative in the warfare. The 
rejection of Southern members and senators on the basis of the 
Constitutional qualifications, is revolutionary in its tendency and 
must bring upon its authors, the odium of perpetuating a dis- 
union, which they have fought nearly five years to prevent. 
They, in a word, become the disunion party. . , 

The Treasury Department is taking steps to collect internal 
revenue. This will destroy our people, if the valuation of 
property according to the assessment of i860 is adhered to. It 
ought to be remembered that the tax-paying capacity of our 
people is exhausted. Property is not actually worth one-fourth 



Southern Views on Reconstruction 133 

of the valuation of i860. The people are without money and 
they have nothing to sell. I beg you to appeal to the Presi- 
dent in our behalf on this subject. Ask him, for the sake of 
justice, to cause the valuation of i860 to be abandoned and to 
assess the tax according to its present value. We may possibly 
be able to pay on this basis — but the basis of i860 will ruin 
thousands, the large majority of whom are widows and orphans 
and . . men of small means. . . 

Clothed with as much power of patronage as is the President, 
I have no doubt of his ability, by legitimate means, to induce 
the Clerk of the H. R., in calling the roll of the states, to call 
the late seceding States. This is of ^-ast importance in the 
work of restoration. For It puts all on an equality before the 
House Is organized and gives all an opportunity to vote for 
Speaker. In such a condition of things the Southern States 
would have great power for good. 

You may say to the President, with the most perfect con- 
fidence, that he can withdraw military power from Georgia as 
soon as he pleases. All Is safe. Our Legislature will do 
justice and give ample protection to the freedman. The 
people . . will, In good faith, maintain the peace, adhere to 
the Union and obey the laws and Constitution. 



UNIONIST PLANS 



Observations of a Union Leaguer 

Johnson MSS. Letter of A. Watson of Tennessee to President John- 
son. [April 17, 1865] 

The city of Washington is spotted with rebels. . . Not only 
are rebels in the streets, and in every kind of business, but they 
are in every department, and even in and around the White 
House. Shall this thing continue, or will yon, like the fabled 
Hercules, clean the Augean stables. This kind of filth has 
been accumulating for four long years, until it stinks in the 
nostrils of every loyal man. Shall it be cleaned out thoroughly, 
and the atmosphere of the National Capital be made as loyal 
and sweet as the air from a new blown rose. . . 

If there was a grievous fault in Mr. Lincoln's administration 
it was in the fostering of his enemies, and the discarding of 
his friends. In fattening rebels, and starving those who had 
elevated him to power. . . Rebels were fostered and fattened . . 
until rebellion was made respectable by its numbers and its 
wealth, the air of this city was filled with it. . . Mr. Lincoln to 
placate these aristocrats . . has given them place and power, 
which they have constantly used against him, and his 
friends. . . He has fallen a victim to mistaken clemency, and 
to the policy of buying his enemies . . and to the discarding 
of his friends, and their advice. . . "He that is not for me is 
against me" — and "no man can serve two masters" are 
aphorisms not only of the scriptures, but equally admitted by 
all mankind. 

In every department of the government in this city and else- 
where more than half are opposed to the principles enunciated 
by the Baltimore convention which elevated Mr. Lincoln and 
yourself to power. They not only receive the money of the 
government, but are in high official position giving tone to 
public opinion here and elsewhere, and are using their positions 

134 



Unionist Plans 135 



to defeat the policy of the Administration, and shield rebels 
from just and merited punishment. . , 

There is but one true policy of government in this country, 
which is "to the victors belong the control." . . Any other policy 
is a fraud upon the people and the party which gave to the 
nominees their votes. Mr. Lincoln's administration attempted 
the impossible policy of running the Train of Freedom, with 
Slavery Conductors, and giving them plenty of money, if they 
would not smash the cars. They did not destroy the Com- 
pany because it was too strong and too rich, but they destroyed 
its President. . . 

No such system can ever succeed. We have escaped by the 
merest accident, and now . . shall we allow these men to again 
put our lives, and the lives of the nation in peril. . . I trust 
that the Machinery of State will be put in the hands and under 
the control of its friends, who are alone competent to run it 
smoothly and safely. Not a man should be employed, unless 
he is one of our friends and the known enemy of the rebellion. 
Only in this way can you, and we, and the nation be entirely 
safe. "He that is not for us is against us." — All such should 
be driven from power at once. . . [The Union] League is 
strong in this city and if permitted will assist you in clearing 
rebels out of the departments, and out of every part of the 
city. . . 

Some of the most prominent men of the League ask of you 
an interview, at some convenient period, that we may orally 
comxmunicate in full the state of things in this city. We are 
long residents here and know nearly all of the prominent men 
in power, and especially the rank and file of the office holders, 
and are better calculated to point out the disloyal, than any 
other body of men here. We know thousands of rebels In 
office, and will give you their names, and the evidence. If you 
will see that they are removed. Believing that you will thus 
act has prompted me to write you this hasty letter, as from your 
speeches we are of opinion that rebels may now be forced out 
of office and Into the obscurity which they merited four years 
ago. Better late than never, and it is never too late to do good . . 



136 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

if you will grant us an interview we can assist you very mater- 
ially in setting the ship of state on the right course, so as to 
avoid the rocks which stranded the last one. 

'*A Loyalist's" Demands 

Report of Joint Committee on Reconstruction, pt. iii, p. 12. State- 
ment of William H. Smith, of Alabama, a prominent deserter from 
the Confederacy. [1866] 

The rebels have had all that in their hands, and they think 
they have power again, and it emboldens them. . . They say 
they will soon have the control of the country again ; that they 
will have a united south, and with the democratic party in the 
north, and the President to help them, they will soon have the 
control of the whole country again. I was talking with Govern- 
or Parsons the other day . . I am satisfied he has gone over to 
the rebels. I said to him . . "Governor, the course we should 
pursue here is to m.ake war on these rebels. As for the poor, 
deluded common soldiers, I have sympathy for them; but as 
for the rest, we must put them down. The people must blame 
some one for this great wrong, and if the government does not 
put a mark on the leading rebels and blame them, the people 
will blame the government. But if these men are rewarded 
for their treason against the government, the plain, simple- 
minded men will say that the government must be satisfied that 
they have not done wrong or it would not reward them." 
"Well," said the governor, "I agree to that; but let us wait 
until we get the State reconstructed." "What do you mean by 
that?" I replied. "Do you mean, wait until these men are 
all in power? That would be too late. We Union men will 
then all be driven out of the country." 



6. SOME ABOLITIONIST VIEWS 



Gerrit Smith's "Thoughts for the People" 

JoTinson M8S. A public letter printed as a broadside. [April 19, 1865] 

Let the first condition of Peace with them be that no people 
in the Rebel States shall ev^er either lose or gain civil or politi- 
cal rights by reason of their race or origin. God would have 
no right, social, ecclesiastical, nor any other, turn on such 
peculiarities. But to apply this condition of Peace to any 
other than civil and political rights would be manifestly im- 
proper. . . A Peace, which denies the ballot to the black man, 
would be war: — and perhaps the worst of wars — a war of 
races. 

Let the next condition of Peace be that our black allies in 
the South — those saviors of our nation — shall share with 
their poor white neighbors in the subdivisions of the large 
landed estates of the South. And this, not merely to com- 
pensate them for what we owe them : — and not merely because 
they are destitute of property : — and not merely because they 
have ever been robbed of their earnings and denied the ac- 
quisition of property: — but, more than all these, because the 
title to the soil of the whole South is equitably in them, who 
have ever tilled it, and profusely shed upon it their sweat and 
tears and blood. . . 

Let the only other condition be that the rebel masses shall 
not, for, say, a dozen years, be allowed access to the ballot-box, 
or be eligible to office; and that the like restrictions be for life 
on their political and military leaders. Without such restric- 
tions there would be no safety for either the blacks or loyal 
whites of the South; and no adequate security against the 
nation's sinking Into a condition worse in some respects than 
that from which she is noAV emerging. Without such restric- 
tions our ingratitude to the blacks would be as signal as is their 
magnanimity in forgiving us, and In serving and saving us 
at personal risks greater than white men could possibly incur. 

137 



138 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

I do not say that I would have all black men vote. I certainly 
would, were the rebels allowed to vote. But, with the pro- 
posed restrictions on rebel suffrage, I would be quite content 
that none, black or white, who cannot read their vote, should 
be permitted to cast it. As a general principle and In ordinary 
circumstances, I would not have the ability to read a qualifi- 
cation for voting. . . 

The President [Lincoln] would have the Louisiana Consti- 
tution [1864] confer suffrage on colored men, if they are "very 
intelligent," or if they "serve our cause as soldiers." But would 
he make these the conditions of voting on the part of the 
Southern whites also? With such Impartial conditions there 
would be more black than white voters in the South. . . The 
mass of the Southern blacks fall, in point of intelligence, but 
little. If any, behind the mass of the Southern whites. But I 
pass from this comparison to say that, In reference to the quali- 
fications of the voter, men make too much account of the head 
and too little of the heart. The ballot-box, like God, says: 
"Give me thy heart." The best-hearted men are the best 
qualified to vote : and. In this light, the blacks, with their 
characteristic gentleness, patience and affectionateness, are 
peculiarly entitled to vote. We cannot wonder at Sweden- 
borg's belief that the celestial people will be found In the in- 
terior of Africa : nor hardly can we wonder at the legend, that 
the gods came down every year to sup with their favorite 
Africans. . . 

I shall be asked, if I would have none of the rebels, not 
even their guiltiest leaders, doomed to death? I answer, no — 
not any of them : nor any of them to imprisonment, nor any of 
them to banishment. . . 

I St. Because the masses of the Southern whites do . . love 
their leaders, and would therefore sympathize with their suf- 
ferings, and be soured, if not exasperated, by them. . . Such 
a state of mind would be very unfavorable for their experience 
of those happy changes of character, which are so needful for 
the nation's as well as their own welfare. 

2d. Because these masses would be ever and deeply grate- 



Some Abolitionist Views 139 



ful to the Government whose remarkable clemency had spared 
those leaders from the penalty of their crimes. 

3d. Because these leaders are not so depraved but what 
they themselves . . might be won to love our kind and for- 
giving Government, and to feel and confess the boundless 
wrong of having risen up against it. 

4th. Because the heart of the whole world would be 
softened, and all its civilizations improved by such an absence 
of revenge, and by such pity for those, who had done so much 
to provoke revenge. 

5th. Because monarchists would justly ascribe to the edu- 
cating power of our free institutions this unprecedentedly 
generous treatment of the greatest offenders, and would be 
touched with shame for their disparagement and defamation 
of those institutions, 

6th. Because the civilization of our Northern States — 
which, but for the barbarizing influences of slavery, had been, 
if indeed it is not now, of a higher type than that enjoyed by 
any other people — would call for all this pity. It would be 
called for by that same civilization, which did not respond to 
the clamors for the retaliatory starvation and murder of pris- 
oners. Just here, we see that a highly civilized people are at 
great disadvantage in carrying on a war with a pre-eminently 
barbarous one. The South could starve and murder prisoners: 
but the North could not. . . 

7th. But for a reason weightier than any or all other rea- 
sons, would I have the North deal kindly and mercifully. . . 
The slaveholding spirit brought on this war. But the North, 
as well as the South is responsible for generating and fostering 
this spirit. . . The trade, politics and religion of the North 
were in the service of slavery. 



Gerrit Smith Advises Leniency 

Johnson MS8. An open letter to President Johnson. [April 24, 1S65] 
Only ten days ago, and the country felt sure of an immediate 
Peace. . . To-day there is a strong and wide-spread fear that 



140 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

Peace is afar off. Whence this great change? It comes from 
the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, and from your taking 
his place, 

I St. For, whilst the incessant demand for a rigorous and 
bloody policy toward the conquered rebels met with no re- 
sponse in the remarkable kindness and compassion of Mr. 
Lincoln, it is apprehended that there may be qualities in your- 
self to which such a policy . . would be entirely welcome. 
Then by your contact with the Rebellion — by your personal 
observation of its crimes, and especially by what you and your 
family and friends had suffered from those crimes — your 
temper, unless marvellously controlled, could not have failed 
to be excited, and to call for the severest punishment on the 
leaders of the Rebellion. 

2d. Whilst Mr. Lincoln was yet alive, Government was 
incessantly called on by presses and public meetings, by ser- 
mons saturated with the vindictive and blood-thirsty spirit of 
the Jewish theology, and by voices innumerable, not to spare 
these leading rebels. No wonder then, that the manner of his 
death is made use of to increase the thirst for their blood. For, 
absurd as is the charge, that the assassin was their tool, it 
nevertheless gains extended credence. They all knew Mr. 
Lincoln's characteristic clemency, and that the terms of the 
Peace he was intent on were exceedingly mild. Hence, how 
insane is the supposition that any of them sought his death ! . . 

But there was another and no less conclusive argument, for 
conducting the contest with our enemy on the most liberal and 
humane principles. It was that it is reasonable as well as char- 
itable to conclude, not only that there must, in order to move 
such vast numbers, be their sincere belief in their cause, but 
that, considering how many wise and good men there are 
amongst them, their cause, however lacking it may be in sound- 
ness, must have a strong semblance of soundness. And such it, 
in fact, has. The Constitutional right of "Secession," which 
is their cause, has from the first been extensively believed in. 
Even Jefferson and Madison favored it, more or less directly. 
Nearly the whole South had come to believe it; and no small 



Some Abolitionist Views iti 

part of the North. It is true, that the American people have now 
put their final and effectual veto upon this doctrine of "Seces- 
sion." They have done this, not only on the battle-field, but at 
the ballot-box also. . . Nevertheless, not to let the extended 
conviction, at the North as well as at the South, present as well 
as past, of the truth of the doctrine, mitigate in some degree 
the crime of the mad-clinging of the Southern people to it, is to 
betray a great and guilty insensibility to the claims of reason, 
candor and charity. He is not a right-hearted man, who can 
read without sorrow for General Lee, and without some meas- 
ure of excuse for him, the accounts of his hesitating between 
the claims of his country and of his Virginia to his paramount 
allegiance. Charge the General with guilt for choosing Cal- 
houn instead of Webster for his expounder of the Constitution. 
But admit it to be his misfortune more than his guilt that . . 
he grew up under the teachings of Jefferson and Madison, in- 
stead of those of Washington and Hamilton and Jay. Candor 
will allow the like plea even for Jefferson Davis. Let him who 
"is without sin" — this sin of taking as a political authority not 
Calhoun merely, but even Jefferson or Madison — "let him 
first cast a stone at" Jefferson Davis. . . Neither [North nor 
South] can put the entire blame of the War upon the other. 
Hence neither is to punish the other: — but both are to for- 
give each other. God says to the North, as well as to the 
South: "Go, and sin no more." . . 

I cannot doubt that [peace is remote] if the severe policy 
toward the conquered rebels . . shall be adopted. . . For 
once let it be known that the leading rebels, who shall fall 
into our hands, will be doomed to punishment . . and im- 
mediately, amongst their followers, sympathy with them and 
rage against us will know no bounds. . . In that state of 
things a guerilla warfare would ensue, which . . might run 
through many years, harrassing and wasting our armies, and 
adding fearfully, if not fatally, to our already vast debt. . . 
A people, however great, should beware of driving to despera- 
tion a people how^ever small. . . Moreover, if our Govern- 
ment shall be guilty of what seems to be bad faith or cruelty 



142 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

toward the conquered rebels, would there not be a disaffec- 
tion at the North far more alarming than that hitherto mani- 
fested? . . 

But how blessed would be the consequences of a wise and 
kind treatment of that enemy! Then the South would be at 
Peace with the North; would soon learn to like her; and would 
soon welcome the tens of thousands of families, that would 
immediately begin to emigrate from the North to the South? 
Then the North and the South . . would rapidly become one in 
interest, and one also In character, . . The South has suffered 
enough, and she deserves to be soothed and comforted, and 
no more afflicted, by us. 



Chief Justice Chase on Negro Suffrage 

Johnson MBS. Chase to President Johnson. Chase was then in 
South Carolina on a tour through the South. [May 7, 1865] 

General Sherman is greatly dissatisfied with the publication 
of the projected Convention with Johnson & the reasons for 
disapproval, . . 

He is thoroughly persuaded of the superior merits of the 
plan of reorganization, which was initiated by General 
Weitzel's order at Richmond, & applied more extensively by 
the proposed Convention. He does [not] seem to take into 
account the great changes produced by the conversion of slaves 
into free citizens; which alone are sufficient to make honorable 
reorganization through rebel authorities Impossible. 

My detention here has enabled me to see a good deal of the 
Citizens. . . All agree that Slavery is at an end, and acquiesce 
fully In the order of Gen. Schofield, which I enclose, declaring 
that all persons in North Carolina, who were held as slaves, 
were made free by the Proclamation of Emancipation and must 
be upheld In their rights as freemen. As to the extension of 
Suffrage to loyal blacks I find that readiness and even desire 
for it is in proportion to the loyalty of those who express opin- 
ions. Nobody dissents, vehemently; while those who have 
suffered from rebellion and rejoice with their whole hearts in 



Some Abolitionist Views 143 

the restoration of the National Authority, are fast coming to 
the conclusion they will find their own surest safety in the 
proposed extension. Among these last I have found no one 
more enlightened or truly patriotic than Col. James H. Taylor 
formerly the holder of more than a hundred slaves. 

All seem embarrassed about first steps. I do not entertain 
the slightest doubt that they would all welcome some simple 
recommendation from yourself, and would adopt readily any 
plan which you would suggest. They would receive, without 
resistance from any and with real joy in many hearts, an order 
for the enrollment of all loyal citizens without regard to com- 
plexion, with a view to reorganization. This would be re- 
garded by all not as an interference but a facility, so far as the 
order should relate to Enrollment of whites, and with almost 
universal acquiescence and with favor by the best citizens, in 
its whole scope. . . 

I am anxious that you should have the honor of the lead in 
this work. It is my deliberate judgment that nothing will so 
strengthen you with the people or bring so much honor to your 
name throughout the world as some such short address as I 
suggested before leaving Washington. Just say to the People 
''reorganize your state governments: I will aid you by enroll- 
ment of the loyal citizens ; you will not expect me to discriminate 
among men equally loyal; once enrolled vote for delegates to 
the Convention to reform your State Constitution: I will aid 
you in collecting and declaring their suffrages; your Convention 
and yourselves must do the rest; but you may count on the 
support of the National Government in all things constitutional 
[ly] expedient." This will terminate all discussion. The 
disloyal men will feel that the argument is closed and will at 
once conform themselves to the new order. 



CHARLES SUMNER'S "STATE SUICIDE" 
THEORY 



The Effect of Secession is the Destruction of the State 

Congressional Globe, February 11, 1862, p. 736. [1862] 

I. Resolved, That any vote of secession or other act by 
which any State may undertake to put an end to the supremacy 
of the Constitution within its territory is inoperative and void 
against the Constitution, and when sustained by force it be- 
comes a practical abdication by the State of all rights under the 
Constitution, while the treason which it involves still further 
works an instant forfeiture of all those functions and powers 
essential to the continued existence of the State as a body politic, 
so that from that time forward the territory falls under the 
exclusive jurisdiction of Congress as other territory, and the 
state being according to the language of the law, felo-de-se, 
ceases to exist. 

2. Resolved, That any combination of men assuming to 
act in the place of such States, and attempting to insnare or 
coerce the inhabitants thereof into a confederation hostile to 
the Union is rebellious, treasonable, and destitute of all moral 
authority; and that such combination is a usurpation, incapable 
of any constitutional existence, and utterly lawless, so that 
everything dependent upon it Is without constitutional or legal 
support. 

3. Resolved, That the termination of a State under the 
Constitution necessarily causes the termination of those peculiar 
local institutions which, having no origin in the Constitution or 
in those natural rights which exist Independent of the Consti- 
tution are upheld by the sole and exclusive authority of the 
State. 

4. Resolved, That slavery being a peculiar local Institu- 
tion, derived from local laws, without any origin in the Consti- 
tution or In natural rights, Is upheld by the sole and exclusive 
authority of the State, and must therefore cease to exist legally 

144 



Charles Sumner s ''State Suicide" Theory 145 

or constitutionally when the State on which it depends no longer 
exists; for the incident cannot surviv-e the principal. 

5. Resolved, That in the exercise of its exclusive juris- 
diction over the territory once occupied by the States, it is the 
duty of Congress to see that the supremacy of the Constitution 
is maintained in its essential principles, so that ever^^vhere in 
this extensive territory slavery shall cease to exist practically, 
as it has already ceased to exist constitutionally or legally. . . 

9. Resolved, That the duty directly cast upon Congress 
by the extinction of the States is reinforced by the positive 
prohibition of the Constitution that "no State shall enter into 
any confederation," or "without the consent of Congress keep 
troops or ships-of-war in time of peace or enter into any agree- 
ment or compact with another State," or "grant letters of 
marque and reprisal," or "without the consent of Congress lay 
any duties on imports or exports," all of which have been done 
by these pretended governments, and also by the positiv^e injunc- 
tion of the Constitution, addressed to the nation, that "the 
United States shall guaranty to every State in this Union a 
republican form of government;" and that in pursuance of this 
duty cast upon Congress, and further enjoined by the Con- 
stitution, Congress v.'ill assume complete jurisdiction of such 
vacated territory where such unconstitutional and illegal things 
have been attempted, and will proceed to establish therein 
republican forms of gov-ernment under the Constitution; and 
in the execution of this trust Vvill provide carefully for the 
protection of all the inhabitants thereof, for the security of 
families, the organization of labor, the encouragement of indus- 
try, and the welfare of society, and will in every way discharge 
the duties of a just, merciful, and paternal governm.ent. 



Five Conditions of Reconstruction 

Congressional Glohe, December 4, 1865, p. 2. [1865] 

Resolved, That, in order to provide proper guaranties for 
security in the future, . . it is the first duty of Congress to take 
care that no State declared to be in rebellion shall be allowed 



146 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

to resume its relations to the Union until after the satisfactory 
performance of five several conditions, which conditions pre- 
cedent must be submitted to a popular vote, and be sanctioned 
by a majority of the people of each State respectively, as fol- 
lows: 

( 1 ) The complete re-establishment of loyalty, as shown 
by an honest recognition of the unity of the Republic, and the 
duty of allegiance to it at all times, without mental reservation 
or equivocation of any kind. 

(2) The complete suppression of all oligarchical preten- 
sions, and the complete enfranchisement of all citizens, so that 
there shall be no denial of rights on account of color or race; 
but justice shall be impartial, and all shall be equal before the 
law. 

(3) The rejection of the rebel debt, and at the same time 
the adoption. In just proportion, of the national debt and the 
national obligations to Union soldiers, with solemn pledges 
never to join in any measure, direct or indirect, for their repu- 
diafton, or in any way tending to impair the national credit. 

(4) The organization of an educational system for the 
equal benefit of all without distinction of color or race. 

(5) The choice of citizens for office, whether state or 
national, of constant and undoubted loyalty, whose conduct 
and conversation shall give assurance of peace and reconcilia- 
tion. 

Resolved, That in order to provide these essential safe- 
guards, without which the national security and the national 
faith will be imperilled, States cannot be precipitated back to 
political power and independence; but they must wait until 
these conditions are in all respects fulfilled. 



THE CONQUERED PROVINCE THEORY 
OF THADDEUS STEVENS 



The Conquered Provinces 

Congressional, Olohe, December 18, 1865, p. 72. [1865] 

The President assumes, what no one doubts, that the late rebel 
States have lost their constitutional relations to the Union, and 
are incapable of representation In Congress, except by permis- 
sion of the Government. It matters but little, with this admis- 
sion, whether you call them States out of the Union, and now 
conquered territories, or assert that because the Constitution 
forbids them to do what they did do, that they are therefore 
only dead as to all national and political action, and will remain 
so until the Government shall breathe into them the breath of 
life anew and permit them to occupy their former position. 
In other words, that they are not out of the Union, but are 
only dead carcasses lying within the Union. In either case, it 
is very plain that it requires the action of Congress to enable 
them to form a State government and send representatives to 
Congress. Nobody, I believe, pretends that with their old 
constitutions and frames of government they can be permitted 
to claim their old rights under the Constitution. They have 
torn their constitutional States into atoms, and built on their 
foundations fabrics of a totally different character. Dead men 
cannot raise themselves. Dead States cannot restore their 
existence "as it was." Whose especial duty is it to do it? 
In whom does the Constitution place the power? Not in the 
judicial branch of Government, for it only adjudicates and 
does not prescribe laws. Not in the Executive, for he only 
executes and cannot make laws. Not in the Commander-in- 
Chief of the armies, for he can only hold them under military 
rule until the sovereign legislative power of the conqueror 
shall give them law. Unless the law of nations is a dead letter, 
the late war between two acknowledged belligerents severed 
their original compacts and broke all the ties that bound them 



148 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

together. The future condition of the conquered power de- 
pends on the will of the conqueror. They must come in as 
new states or remain as conquered provinces. Congress . . 
Is the only power that can act in the matter. 

Congress alone can do it. . . Congress must create States 
and declare when they are entitled to be represented. Then 
each House must judge whether the members presenting them- 
selves from a recognized State possess the requisite qualifica- 
tions of age, residence, and citizenship ; and whether the elec- 
tion and returns are according to law. . . 

It is obvious from all this that the first duty of Congress is 
to pass a law declaring the condition of these outside or defunct 
States, and providing proper civil governments for them. Since 
the conquest they have been governed by martial law. Mili- 
tary rule is necessarily despotic, and ought not to exist longer 
than is absolutely necessar}'. As there are no symptoms that 
the people of these provinces will be prepared to participate in 
constitutional government for some years, I know of no ar- 
rangement so proper for them as territorial governments. There 
they can learn the principles of freedom and eat the fnjit of 
foul rebellion. Under such governments, while electing mem- 
bers to the territorial Legislatures, they will necessarily mingle 
with those to whom Congress shall extend the right of suffrage. 
In Territories Congress fixes the qualifications of electors; and 
I know of no better place nor better occasion for the con- 
quered rebels and the conqueror to practice justice to all men, 
and accustom themselves to make and obey equal laws. . . 

They ought never to be recognized as capable of acting in 
the Union, or of being counted as valid States, until the Con- 
stitution shall have been so amended as to make it what its 
framers intended; and so as to secure perpetual ascendency to 
the party of the Union ; and so as to render our republican 
Government firm and stable forever. The first of those 
amendments is to change the basis of representation among the 
States from Federal numbers to actual voters. . , With the 
basis unchanged the 83 Southern members, with the Democrats 
that will in the best times be elected from the North, will always 



The Conquered Province Theory of Stevens 149 

give a majority in Congress and in the Electoral college. . . I 
need not depict the ruin that would follow. . . 

But this is not all that we ought to do before inveterate 
rebels are invited to participate in our legislation. We have 
turned, or are about to turn, loose four million slaves without 
a hut to shelter them or a cent in their pockets. The infernal 
laws of slavery have prevented them from acquiring an educa- 
tion, understanding the common laws of contract, or of man- 
aging the ordinary business of life. This Congress is bound 
to provide for them until they can take care of themselves. If 
we do not furnish them with homesteads, and hedge them 
around with protective laws ; If we leave them to the legislation 
of their late masters, we had better have left them in bondage, 
. . If we fail in this great duty now, when we have the power, 
we shall deserve and receive the execration of history and of 
all future ages. 



The Advantages of Negro Suffrage 

Congressional Globe, January 3, 1S67, p. 252. [1867] 

Unless the rebel States, before admission, should be made 
republican in spirit, and placed under the guardianship of loyal 
men, all our blood and treasure will have been spent in vain. I 
waive now the question of punishment which, if we are wise, 
will still be inflicted by moderate confiscations. . . Having 
these States . . entirely within the power of Congress, it is our 
duty to take care that no injustice shall remain in their organic 
laws. Holding them "like clay in the hands of the potter," 
we must see that no vessel is made for destruction. Having 
now no governments, they must have enabling acts. The law 
of last session with regard to Territories settled the principles 
of such acts. Impartial suffrage, both In electing the delegates 
and ratifying their proceedings. Is now the fixed rule. There 
Is more reason why colored voters should be admitted in the 
rebel States than In the Territories. In the States they form 
the great mass of the loyal men. Possibly with their aid loyal 
governments may be established In most of those States. With- 



i^o Documentary History of Reconstruction 

out it all are sure to be ruled by traitors; and loyal men, black 
and white, will be oppressed, exiled, or murdered. There are 
several good reasons for the passage of this bill. In the first 
place, it is just. I am now confining my argument to negro 
suffrage in the rebel States. Have not loyal blacks quite as 
good a right to choose rulers and make laws as rebel whites? 
In the second place, it is a necessity in order to protect the 
loyal white men in the seceded States. The white Union men 
are in a great minority in each of those States. With them 
the blacks would act in a body; and it is believed that in each 
of said States, except one, the two united would form a majority, 
control the States, and protect themselves. Now they are the 
victims of daily murder. They must suffer constant persecu- 
tion or be exiled. . . 

Another good reason is, it would insure the ascendency of 
the Union party. . . I believe . . that on the continued ascen- 
dency of that party depends the safety of this great nation. If 
impartial suffrage is excluded in the rebel States, then every one 
of them is sure to send a solid rebel representative delegation 
to Congress, and cast a solid rebel electoral vote. They, with 
their kindred Copperheads of the North, would always elect the 
President and control Congress. While slavery sat upon her 
defiant throne, and insulted and intimidated the trembling 
North, the South frequently divided on questions of policy 
between Whigs and Democrats, and gave victory alternately 
to the sections. Now, you must divide them between loyalists, 
without regard to color, and disloyalists, or you will be the 
perpetual vassals of the free-trade, irritated, revengeful South. 
. . I am for negro suffrage in every rebel State. If it be just, 
it should not be denied; if it be necessary, it should be adopted; 
if it be a punishment to traitors, they deserve it. 



Reasons for Confiscations 

Congressional Glole, March 10, 1866, p. 1309. [1866] 

I HAVE never desired bloody punishments to any great extent. 
. . But there are punishments quite as appalling, and longer 



The Conquered Province Theory of Stevens i ci 

remembered, than death. They are more advisable, because 
they would reach a greater number. Strip a proud nobility of 
their bloated estates ; reduce them to a level with plain repub- 
licans; send them forth to labor, and teach their children to 
enter the workshops or handle the plow, and you will thus 
humble the proud traitors. Teach his posterity to respect labor 
and eschew treason. Conspirators are bred among the rich 
and the vain, the ambitious aristocrats. I trust yet to see our 
confiscation laws fully executed. 



A Plan for Confiscation 

Congressional Globe. March 19, 1867, p. 203. A bill introduced by 
Stevens. [1867] 

Whereas it is due to justice, as an example to future times, 
that some proper punishment should be inflicted on the people 
who constituted the "confederate States of America," both 
because they, declaring an unjust war against the United 
States for the purpose of destroying republican liberty and 
permanently establishing slavery, as well as for the cruel and 
barbarous manner in which they conducted said war, in viola- 
tion of all the laws of civilized warfare, and also to compel 
them to make some compensation for the damages and expen- 
ditures caused by said Vv^ar: Therefore, 

Be it enacted . . That all the public lands belonging to the 
ten States that formed the government of the so-called "con- 
federate States of America" shall be forfeited by said States 
and become forthwith vested in the United States. 

Sec. 2. . . The President shall forthwith proceed to cause 
the seizure of such of the property belonging to the belligerent 
enemy as is deemed forfeited by the act of July 17, A. D. 
1862, and hold and appropriate the same as enemy's property, 
and to proceed to condemnation with that already seized. 

Sec. 3. . . In lieu of the proceeding to condemn the prop- 
erty thus seized as enemy's property, as is provided by the act 
of July 17, A. D. 1862, two commissions or more, as by him 
may be deemed necessary, shall be appointed by the President 



152 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

for each of the said "confederate States," to consist of three 
persons each, one of whom shall be an officer of the late or 
present Army, and two shall be civilians, neither of whom shall 
be citizens of the State for which he shall be appointed; the 
said commissions shall proceed to adjudicate and condemn the 
property aforesaid, under such forms and proceedings as shall 
be prescribed by the Attorney General of the United States, 
whereupon the title to said property shall become vested in the 
United States. 

Sec. 4. . . Out of the lands thus seized and confiscated the 
slaves who have been liberated by the operations of the war and 
the amendment to the Constitution or otherwise, who resided In 
said "confederate States" on the 4th day of March, A. D. 
1 861, or since, shall have distributed to them as follows, name- 
ly: to each male person who Is the head of a family, forty 
acres; to each adult male, whether the head of a family or not, 
forty acres; to each widow who Is the head of a family, forty 
acres — to be held by them In fee simple, but to be inalienable 
for the next ten years after they become seized thereof. For 
the purpose of distributing and allotting said land the Secretary 
of War shall appoint in each State as many commissions as he 
may deem necessary, to consist of three members each, two of 
whom at least shall not be citizens of the State for which he is 
appointed. . . At the end of ten years the absolute title to said 
homesteads shall be conveyed to said owners or to the heirs 
of such as are then dead. 

Sec. 5. . . Out of the balance of the property thus seized 
and confiscated there shall be raised. In the manner hereinafter 
provided, a sum equal to fifty dollars, for each homestead, to be 
applied by the trustees hereinafter mentioned toward the erec- 
tion of buildings on the said homesteads for the use of said 
slaves; and the further sum of $500,000,000, which shall be 
appropriated as follows, to-wit: $200,000,000 shall be in- 
vested in United States six per cent, securities; and the interest 
thereof shall be semi-annually added to the pensions allowed 
by law to the pensioners who have become so by reason of the 
late war; $300,000,000, or so much thereof as may be needed. 



The Conquered Province Theory of Stevens 153 

shall be appropriated to pay damages done to loyal citizens by 
the civil or military operations of the government lately called 
the "confederate States of America." 

Sec. 6. . . In order that just discrimination may be made, 
the property of no one shall be seized whose whole estate on 
the 4th day of March, A. D. 1865, was not worth more than 
$5,000, to be valued by the said commission, unless he shall 
have v^oluntarily become an officer or employee in the military 
or civil service of "the Confederate States of America," or in 
the civil or military service of some one of said States, and in 
enforcing all confiscations the sum or value of $5,000 in real or 
personal property shall be left or assigned to the delinquent. . . 

Sec. 8. . . If the owners of said seized and forfeited estates 
shall, within ninety days after the first of said publications, pay 
into the Treasury of the United States the sum assessed on their 
estates respectively, all of their estates and lands not actually 
appropriated to the liberated slaves shall be released and re- 
stored to their owners. 

Sec. 9. . . All the land, estates, and property, of whatever 
kind, which shall not be redeemed as aforesaid within ninety 
days, shall be sold and converted into money, in such time and 
manner as may be deemed by the said commissioners the most 
advantageous to the United States: Provided, That no arable 
land shall be sold in tracts larger than 500 acres. 



9- VARIOUS PLANS AND SUGGESTIONS 



The Sherman-Johnston Convention 

Memoirs of Gen. W. T. Sherman, hy Himself, vol. ii, p. 3'56. This 
agreement, drawn up by General Sherman, was repudiated by the 
Washington administration. [April 18, 1865] 

Memorandum or Basis of Agreement made this i8th day of 
April, A. D. i86^, near Durham's Station, in the State of 
North Carolina hy and between General Joseph E. John- 
ston, commanding the Confederate Army, and Major Gener- 
al W . T. Sherman, commanding the army of the United 
States in North Carolina, both present: 
. . 2. The Confederate armies now in existence to be 
disbanded and conducted to the several State capitals, there to 
deposit their arms and public property in the State arsenal; and 
each officer and man to execute and file an agreement to cease 
from acts of war, and to abide the action of the State and 
Federal authority. The number of arms and munitions of 
war to be reported to the Chief of Ordnance at Washington 
City, subject to the future action of the Congress of the United 
States, and. In the meantime, to be used solely to maintain peace 
and order within the borders of the States respectively. 

3. The recognition by the Executive of the United States 
of the several State Governments, on their officers and Legis- 
latures taking the oath prescribed by the Constitution of the 
United States, and, where conflicting State Governments have 
resulted from the war, the legitimacy of all shall be submitted 
to the Supreme Court of the United States. 

4. The reestablishment of all Federal Courts in the sev- 
eral States, with powers as defined by the Constitution of the 
United States and of the States respectively. 

5. The people and inhabitants of all the States to be guaran- 
teed, so far as the Executive can, their political rights and 
franchises, as well as their rights of person and property, as 
defined by the Constitution of the United States and of the 
States respectively. 

154 



Various Plans and Suggestions jcr 

6. The Executive authority of the Government of the 
United States not to disturb any of the people by reason of the 
late war so long as they live in peace and quiet, abstain from 
acts of armed hostility, and obey the laws in existence at the 
place of their residence. 

7. In general terms the war to cease, a general amnesty, so 
far as the Executive of the United States can command, on 
condition of the disbandment of the Confederate armies, the 
distribution of the arms and the resumption of peaceful pursuits 
by the officers and men hitherto composing said armies. 



Opinions of C. P. Huntington 

Johnson M8S. Letter of C. P. Huntington to Hugh McCulloch. Sec- 
retary of the Treasury. [October 19, 1S65] 

The organized, not to say impertinent efforts, that have 
been made in this locality, on the part of some ambitious, and 
many well-intentioned Republicans, to dictate a policv to the 
President, to forestall the wisdom of his Cabinet and of Con- 
gress, and to lead public opinion, have had the effect, if nothing 
more, of silencing or muzzling the Republican press as to the 
Administration, and of creating suspicions, distrust and fear, 
when and where a warm, generous and outspoken support 
might not only have been expected, but was demanded by every 
loyal consideration. . . 

The fallacy that the Rebel states were out of the Union and 
quasi-territorial, has not obtained much foothold here, en- 
countering, as it does, so many practical facts, and requiring, 
as it does, a recognition of the power and right of secession for 
its own basis, political power involving and carrying with it 
political right. But another position more plausible, "that the 
rebellious States are held in the grasp of war," and should be 
so held, until the right of suffrage is secured to freedmen, 
meets with more favor. They who are pressing this demand 
seem to forget how narrow and limited is their own field of 
observation, and that there may be men who from a higher 
point of view, and with more extended and practical knowledge 
of the political relations of men and things through the whole 



156 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

country, are more competent, and equally loyal and trusty, to 
judge what kind and how much of "security for the future" Is 
necessary, who forget that some twenty-six states out of New 
England, and one within, now exclude blacks from the elective 
franchise. . . Indeed, they seem to forget how far East the 
West now extends, and that it may have something to say about 
Massachusetts Intermeddling with their reserved rights. 

How much more extraordinary Is It, that this extreme or 
Impracticable class should have expected or demanded of the 
President, that . . he should originate another revolution, and 
usurp a power never delegated by the States, but reserved to 
themselves in express terms — the right of each state to estab- 
lish the elective franchise for itself. As if the President could 
exercise a power . . which Congress itself could not exercise 
without an amendment of the Constitution. If he had under- 
taken so to do, I see not how members of Congress elected under 
such call, could have been anything more than intruders, or why 
he should attempt to quell a political revolution In some of the 
States by originating a great social revolution in many more. 
Neither can it easily be perceived, how the necessities of war 
and the military power In destroying slavery, could also bestow 
the right of suffrage, which no military or Executive proclama- 
tion ever claimed to do, or establish new constitutions, or Invest 
the President with new and original civil power, creating poli- 
tical relations where they had never before existed, and destroy- 
ing them where expressly reserved. 



Governor Andrew's Plan 

Gov. John A. Andrew's Valedictory Address to the Massachusetts 
Legislature. [January 4, 1866] 

I AM confident we cannot re-organize political society with any 
proper security: i. Unless we let In p^op/^ to a co-operation, 
and not merely an arbitrarily selected portion of them. 2. 
Unless we give those who are, by their intelligence and char- 
acter, the natural leaders of the people, and who surely will 
lead them by and by, an opportunity to lead them now. 



Various Plans and Suggestions i ry 

I am aware that it has been a favorite dogma in many quar- 
ters, "No Rebel Voters." But — it is impossible in certain 
States to have any voting by white men, if only "loyal men" 
are permitted to vote. . . 

The Southern People . . fought, toiled, endured, and per- 
severed, wMth a courage, a unanimity and a persistency, not 
outdone by any people in any Revolution. There was never an 
acre of territory abandoned to the Union while it could be held 
by arms. There was never a Rebel regiment surrendered to 
the Union arms until resistance was overcome by force. . . 
The people of the South, men and women, soldiers and civilians, 
volunteers and conscripts, in the army and at home, followed 
the fortunes of the Rebellion and obeyed its leaders, so long as 
it had any fortunes or any leaders. Their young men marched 
up to cannon's mouth, a thousand times, where they were mowed 
down like grain by the reapers when the harvest is ripe. . . 
And since the President finds himself obliged to let in the 
great mass of the disloyal, . . to a participation in the business 
of reorganizing the Rebel States, I am obliged also to confess 
that I think to make one rule for the richer and higher rebels, 
and another rule for the poorer and more lowly rebels is im- 
politic and unphilosophical. I find evidence in the granting 
of pardons, that such also is the opinion of the President. 

When the day arrives, . . when an amnesty, substantially 
universal, shall be proclaimed, the leading minds of the South, 
who by temporary policy and artificial rules had been, for the 
while, disfranchised, will resume their influence and their sway. 
The capacity of leadership is a gift, not a device. They whose 
courage, talents and will entitle them to lead, will lead. . . 
We ought to demand, and to secure, the co-operation of the 
strongest and ablest minds and the natural leaders of opinion 
in the South. If we cannot gain their support of the just 
measures needful for the work of safe re-organization, re-or- 
ganization will be delusive and full of danger. . . 

They are the most hopeful subjects to deal with, in the very 
nature of the case. They have the brain and the experience 
and the education to enable them to understand . . the present 



158 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

situation. They have the courage, as well as the skill, to lead 
the people in the direction their judgments point, in spite of 
their own and the popular prejudice. . . Is it consistent with 
reason and our knowledge of human nature, to believe the 
masses of Southern men able to face about, to turn their 
backs on those they have trusted and followed, and to adopt 
the lead of those who have no magnetic hold on their hearts 
or minds? . . 

It would be idle to re-organize those States by the colored 
vote. If the popular vote of the white race is not to be had in 
favor of the guarantees justly required, then I am in favor 
of holding on — just where we now are. I am not in favor 
of a surrender of the present rights of the Union to a 
struggle between a white minority aided by the freedmen on 
the one hand, against the majority of the white race on the 
other. I would not consent, having rescued those States by arms 
from secession and rebellion, to turn them over to anarchy and 
chaos. . . 

I am satisfied that the mass of thinking men at the South 
accept the present condition of things in good faith; and I am 
also satisfied that with the support of a firm policy from the 
President and Congress, in aid of the efforts of their good faith, 
and with the help of a conciliatory and generous disposition on 
the part of the North . . the measures needed for permanent 
and universal welfare can surely be obtained. There ought 
now to be a vigorous prosecution of the Peace — just as vigor- 
ous as our recent prosecution of the War. We ought to ex- 
tend our hands with cordial good-will to meet the proffered 
hands of the South; demanding no attitude of humiliation from 
any; inflicting no acts of humiliation upon any; respecting the 
feelings of the conquered. 



Supreme Court Theory 

7 Wallace, p. 700. Opinion of Chief Justice Chase in Texas vs. White. 

[1869] 

Did Texas [during the war], cease to be a State? Or, if 
not, did the State cease to be a member of the Union? . . The 



Various Plans and Suggestions i cq 

Union of the States never was a purely artificial and arbitrary 
relation. . . Not only, therefore, can there be no loss of separate 
and independent autonomy to the States through their union un- 
der the Constitution, but it may be not unreasonably said that 
the preservation of the States, and the maintenance of their gov- 
ernments, are as much within the design and care of the Con- 
stitution as the preservation of the Union and the maintenance 
of the National government. The Constitution, in all its pro- 
visions, looks to an indestructible Union, composed of indes- 
tructible States. . . 

The ordinance of secession, adopted by the convention and 
ratified by a majority of the citizens of Texas, and all the acts 
of her legislature intended to give effect to that ordinance, 
were absolutely null. They were utterly without operation in 
law. The obligations of the State, as a member of the Union, 
and of every citizen of the State, as a citizen of the United 
States, remained perfect and unimpaired. It certainly follows 
that the State did not cease to be a State, nor her citizens to be 
citizens of the Union. If this were othenvise, the State must 
hav'e become foreign, and her citizens foreigners. The war 
must have ceased to be a war for the suppression of rebellion, 
and must have become a war for conquest and subjugation. 

Our conclusion therefore is, that Texas continued to be a 
-^tate, and a State of the Union. . . During this condition of 
civil war, the rights of the State as a member, and her people 
as citizens of the Union, were suspended. . . There being no 
government in Texas in constitutional relations with the Union, 
it became the duty of the United States to provide for the 
restoration of such a government. . . But, the power to carry 
into effect the clause of guaranty is primarily a legislative pow- 
er, and resides in Congress. . . The action of the President 
must, therefore, be considered as provisional, and, in that 
light, it seems to have been regarded by Congress. 



Ill 

RESTORATION BY THE PRESIDENT 



Ill 

RESTORATION BY THE PRESIDENT 



INTRODUCTION 

President Lincoln, holding that it was the duty of the 
executive to initiate Reconstruction, established during 
the war provisional governments in three of the states 
— Tennessee, Louisiana, and Arkansas. In Virginia he 
recognized the so-called ''reorganized" government. A 
new state was set up in West Virginia. Congress opposed 
the policy of Lincoln but had not definitely rejected 
it when the war ended. After Lincoln's death, Congress 
not being in session, President Johnson had a clear field 
for a trial of his plan of restoring the Union. For a month 
he made no move except to reject the Sherman-Johnston 
convention. Meanwhile in the lower South the state of- 
ficers began a movement looking toward reorganization 
for the purpose of asking for readmission to the Union. 
About May 20, 1865, Johnson ordered that this move- 
ment be crushed by the arrest of all who should take part 
in it. On May 29 with the publication of the Amnest}^ 
Proclamation and the appointment of a provisional gov- 
ernor for North Carolina, he began his work of reorgan- 
izing the southern communities. For each of the se- 
ceded states, except Louisiana, Tennessee, Arkansas and 
Virginia, he appointed a governor who organized a pro- 
visional administration and called a constitutional con- 
vention, which was required by the President: (i) to 
abolish slaver}^, declare the ordinance of secession null 
and void, and repudiate all debts incurred in aid of the 
w^ar; (2) to provide for a new state government based 
on the constitution and laws of 1861, without slavery. 
Next in each state were held elections of local and state 

16' 



'o 



164 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

officials, legislators and congressmen. Presidential gov- 
ernors and their administrations now gave way to those 
elected by the people. The legislatures, under pressure 
from Washington, ratified the Thirteenth Amendment, 
and elected United States senators. The process of res- 
toration w^as now complete if Congress would admit the 
Southern representatives. 

But Congress refused to do this, and the state govern- 
ments in the South continued as provisional only and sub- 
ject to constant interference by the President. The 
breach between the President and Congress rapidly wid- 
ened. The Civil Rights and Freedmen's Bureau acts 
were passed over the veto. Finally Congress proposed 
the Fourteenth Amendment as a sort of compromise: if 
they should ratify it the Southern States would be rec- 
ognized but the leading whites would be disfranchised 
by it. The President opposed it. Tennessee alone rati- 
fied it and was readmitted. The other Southern States 
after rejecting the Amendment prepared a modified form 
of it which they were willing to accept, but nothing came 
of this attempt. The year of 1866 was a year of cam- 
paigning, North and South, on the question of Recon- 
struction. Individuals and parties declared for Congress 
or for the Presidential policy. The so-called Radical 
party was organized in the South to advocate negro suf- 
frage and to secure its fruits. The President himself 
took part in the campaign, but his policy was condemned 
at the polls in the North. The Presidential state govern- 
ments continued in the South more or less under the con- 
trol of the army and the Freedmen's Bureau until Con- 
gress passed the Reconstruction acts in March, 1867. 



REFERENCES 

EAfiLY Attempts at Restokatio : Fleming, Civil War and Recomtruction 
in Alabama, p. 341; Garner, Reconstruction in Mississippi, p. 57; Her- 
bert, The Solid, South, p. 321; Phelps, Louisiana, ch. 14. ' 

FoEJiATiox OF THE PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENTS: Chadsey, President Johnson 
and Congress, p. 36; Fleming, ch. 8; Garner, p. 75; Herbert, p. 9; Rey- 
nolds, Reconstruction in South Carolina, ch. 1, 2; Rhodes, History of 
the United States, vol. v, p. 525; Wallace, Carpet Bag Rule in Florida, 
ch. 1; Woolley, Reconstruction of Georgia, ch. 1. 

The CoN\T2XTiONS of 1865: Chadsey, p. 40; Fleming, p. 358; Garner, p. 82; 
Reynolds, p. 14; Rhodes, vol. v, p. 35; Wallace, ch. 2. 

The Abolition of Slavery: Fleming, p. 360; Garner, p. 86; Herbert, p. 353; 
Reynolds, p. 17; Rhodes, vol. v, p. 539. 

The Johnson Governments: Fleming, ch. 9, 10; Garner, ch. 3; Herbert, 
pp. 25, 115, 323, 351; Reynolds, ch. 2; Rhodes, vol. v, ch. 30; Woolley, 
ch. 2. 

Opposition of Congress: Chadsey, ch. 3; Fleming, p. 391; Garner, p. 155; 
Rhodes, vol. v, ch. 30. 

military RrLE, 1865-1866: Fleming, ch. 10; Garner, p. 96; Reynolds, p. 39; 
Wilson, Federal Aid in Domestic Disturbances, p. 107. 

Status of the Negro: Fleming, pp. 383, 410; Gamer, p. 109; Wallace, ch. 3. 

The Campaign of 1866: Chadsey, ch. 4; Fleming, p. 398; Reynolds, p. 37; 
Rhodes, vol. v, p. 614. 

Rejection of the Fourteenth Amendment: Chadsey, p. 104; Fleming, 
p. 394; Garner, p. 121; Reynolds, p. 33; Rhodes, vol. v, p. 603. 



165 



I. THE PRESIDENT'S PLAN IN OPERATION 



An Early Attempt at Restoration 

Annual Cyclopedia, I860, p. 578. Proclamation of Gov. Charles 
Clarke of Mississippi. There were similar movements in the states 
from South Carolina to Texas, favored by the union army officers, 
but about May 20 the President ordered all these governments dis- 
persed. [May 6, 1865] 

To the people of Mississippi: 

Gen. Taylor informs me that all Confederate armies east of 
the Mississippi River are surrendered. . . Federal comman- 
ders will only send such troops as may be necessary to guard 
public property. . . 

Arrangements will be made to issue supplies to the desti- 
tute. I have called the Legislature to convene on Thursday, 
the 1 8th instant. They will, doubtless, order a convention. 
The officers of the State Government will immediately return 
with the archives to Jackson. 

County officers will be vigilant in the preservation of order 
and the protection of property. Sheriffs have power to call 
out posse comitatus, and the militia will keep arms and other 
orders for this purpose, as in times of peace. 

The State laws must be enforced as they now are until re- 
pealed. If the public property is protected and peace pre- 
served, the necessity of Federal troops in your counties will be 
avoided. You are therefore urged to continue to arrest all 
marauders and plunderers. The collection of taxes should 
be suspended, as the laws will doubtless be changed. 

Masters are responsible, as heretofore, for the protection 
and conduct of their slaves, and they should be kept at home 
as heretofore. Let all citizens fearlessly adhere to the for- 
tunes of the State. Assist the returning soldiers to obtain 
civil employment, contemn t^velfth-hour vaporers, and meet 
facts with fortitude and common sense. 

167 



1 68 Documentary History of Reconstruction 



Southern State Gov^ernments not Recognized 

War Department Archives, General Order No. 52, Department of 
Mississippi, M'ay 20, ISoo, publishing a telegram from Secretary 
Stanton. [1865] 

By direction of the President, you will not recognize any of- 
ficer of the Confederate or State Government, within the lim- 
its of your command, as authorized to exercise in any manner 
whatever the function of their late offices. You will prevent, 
if necessary, any attempt of any of the legislatures of the 
States in insurrection to assemble for legislative purposes, and 
will imprison any members or other persons who may attempt 
to exercise his functions in opposition to your orders. 



Johnson's Proclamation of Amnesty 

Richardson, Messages and Papers, vol. vi, p. 310. [May 29, 1865] 

Whereas the President of the United States, on the 8th day of 
December, A. D., 1863, and on the 26th day of March, 1864, 
did, with the object to suppress the existing rebellion, to induce 
all persons to return to their loyalty, and to restore the author- 
ity of the United States, issue proclamations offering amnesty 
and pardon to certain persons who had directly, or by impli- 
cation, participated in the said rebellion ; and 

Whereas many persons who had so engaged in said rebel- 
lion have, since the issuance of said proclamations, failed or 
neglected to take the benefits offered thereby; and 

Whereas many persons who have been justly deprived of 
all claim to amnesty and pardon thereunder by reason of their 
participation, directly or by implication, in said rebellion, and 
continued hostility to the Government of the United States 
since the date of said proclamations, now desire to apply for 
and obtain amnesty and pardon. 

To the end, therefore, that the authority of the Govern- 
ment of the United States may be restored, and that peace, 
order, and freedom may be established, I, Andrew Johnson, 
President of the United States, do proclaim and declare that 
I hereby grant to all persons who have, directly or indirectly, 



The President's Plan in Operation 169 

participated in the existing rebellion, except as hereinafter ex- 
cepted, amnesty and pardon, with restoration of all rights of 
property, except as to slaves and except in cases where legal 
proceedings, under the laws of the United States providing 
for the confiscation of property of persons engaged in rebel- 
lion, have been instituted; but upon the condition, nevertheless, 
that every such person shall take and subscribe the following 
oath (or affirmation), and thence forward keep and maintain 
said oath inviolate; and which oath shall be registered for 
permanent preservation, and shall be of the tenor and effect 
following, to wit: 

"I, ^ , do solemnly swear (or affirm), in 

presence of Almighty God, that I will henceforth faithfully 
support, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United 
States, and the Union of the States thereunder; and that I will, 
in like manner, abide by and faithfully support all laws and 
proclamations which have been made during the existing rebel- 
lion, with reference to the emancipation of slaves. So help 
me God." 

The following classes of persons are excepted from the bene- 
fits of this proclamation : 

First. All who are or shall have been pretended civil or 
diplomatic officers or otherwise domestic or foreign agents of 
the pretended Confederate government. 

Second. All who left judicial stations under the United 
States to aid the rebellion. 

Third. All who shall have been military or naval officers 
of said pretended Confederate government above the rank of 
colonel in the army or lieutenant in the navy. 

Fourth. All who left seats in the Congress of the United 
States to aid the rebellion. 

Fifth. All who resigned or tendered resignations of their 
commissions in the army or navy of the United States to evade 
duty in resisting the rebellion. 

Sixth. All who have engaged in any way in treating other- 
wise than lawfully as prisoners of war persons found in the 
United States service as officers, soldiers, seamen, or in other 
capacities. 



170 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

Seventh. All persons who have been or are absentees from 
the United States for the purpose of aiding in the rebellion. 

Eighth. All military and naval officers in the rebel service 
who were educated by the Government in the Military Acad- 
emy at West Point or the United States Naval Academy. 

Ninth. All persons who held the pretended offices of gov- 
ernors of States in insurrection against the United States. 

Tenth. All persons who left their homes within the jur- 
isdiction and protection of the United States and passed be- 
yond the Federal military lines into the pretended Confederate 
States for the purpose of aiding the rebellion. 

Eleventh. All persons who have been engaged in the de- 
struction of the commerce of the United States upon the high 
seas and all persons w^ho have made raids into the United 
States from Canada or been engaged in destroying the com- 
merce of the United States upon the lakes and rivers that 
separate the British Provinces from the United States. 

Twelfth. All persons who, at the time when they seek to 
obtain the benefits hereof by taking the oath herein prescribed, 
are in military, naval, or civil confinement or custody, or under 
bonds of the civil, military, or naval authorities or agents of 
the United States as prisoners of war, or persons detained 
for offenses of any kind, either before or after conviction. 

Thirteenth. All persons who have voluntarily participated 
in said rebellion, and the estimated value of whose taxable 
property is over $20,000. 

Fourteenth. All persons who have taken the oath of am- 
nesty prescribed in the President's proclamation of Decem- 
ber 8, A. D. 1863, or an oath of allegiance to the Government 
of the United States since the date of said proclamation, and 
who have not thenceforsvard kept and maintained the same 
inviolate. 

Prozided, That special application may be made to the 
President for pardon by any person belonging to the excepted 
classes, and such clemency will be liberally extended as may 
be consistent with the facts of the case and the peace and 
dignity of the United States. . . 



The Presidefifs Plan in Operation 171 



Appointment of a Provisional Governor 

Richardson. Messages and Papers. ■vo\.y\,i,. 312. Proclamation appoint- 
ing W. "W. Holden, provisional governor of North Carolina. Similar 
proclamations were issued for Mississippi on June 13, Georsjia and 
Texas on June 17, Alabama on June 21, South Carolina on June 30 
and for Florida on July 13. Under the Lincoln plan, governments 
had been set up in Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee and Virginia. 

[May 29, 186.5] 

Whereas the fourth section of the fourth article of the Con- 
stitution of the United States declares that the United States 
shall guarantee to every State in the Union a republican form 
of government, and shall protect each of them against inva- 
sion and domestic violence; and 

Whereas the President of the United States is by the Con- 
stitution made Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy, 
as well as chief civil executive officer of the United States, 
and is bound by solemn oath faithfully to execute the office 
of President of the United States and to take care that the 
laws be faithfully executed; and 

Whereas the rebellion which has been waged by a portion 
of the people of the United States against the properly con- 
stituted authorities of the Government thereof in the most 
violent and revolting form, but whose organized and armed 
forces have now been almost entirely overcome, has in its 
revolutionary progress deprived the people of the State of 
North Carolina of all civil government; and 

Whereas it becomes necessary and proper to carry out and 
enforce the obligations of the United States to the people of 
North Carolina, in securing them in the enjoyment of a repub- 
lican form of government: 

Now, therefore, in obedience to the high and solemn duties 
imposed upon me by the Constitution of the United States and 
for the purpose of enabling the loyal people of said State to 
organize a State government whereby justice may be estab- 
lished, domestic tranquility insured, and loyal citizens pro- 
tected in all their rights of life, liberty, and property, 1, An- 
drew Johnson, President of the United States, and Commander 
in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, do 



172 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

hereby appoint William W. Holden Provisional Governor of 
the State of North Carolina, whose duty it shall be, at the 
earliest practicable period, to prescribe such rules and regu- 
lations as may be necessary and proper for convening a con- 
vention, composed of delegates to be chosen by that portion 
of the people of said State who are loyal to the United States, 
and no others, for the purpose of altering or amending the 
constitution thereof, and with authority to exercise, within the 
limits of said State, all the powers necessary and proper to 
enable such loyal people of the State of North Carolina to 
restore said State to its constitutional relations to the Fed- 
eral Government and to present such a republican form of 
State government as will entitle the State to the guarantee of 
the United States therefor and Its people to the protection by 
the United States against invasion. Insurrection and domestic 
violence: Provided, that In any election that may be hereafter 
held for choosing delegates to any State convention as afore- 
said no person shall be qualified as an elector, or shall be eligi- 
ble as a member of such convention unless he shall have pre- 
viously taken the oath of amnesty as set forth In the President's 
proclamation of May 29, A. D. 1865, and is a voter qualified 
as prescribed by the Constitution and laws of the State of 
North Carolina, In force Immediately before the 20th day of 
May, 1 86 1, the date of the so-called ordinance of secession; 
and the said convention when convened, or the Legislature that 
may be thereafter assembled, will prescribe the qualification of 
electors, and the eUglbility of persons to hold office under the 
Constitution and laws of the State — a power the people of 
the several States composing the Federal Union have right- 
fully exercised from the origin of the Government to the pres- 
ent time. 

And I do hereby direct — 

First. That the military commander of the department 
and all officers and persons in the military and naval service 
aid and assist the said Provisional Governor In carrying Into 
effect this proclamation; and they are enjoined to abstain from 
in any way hindering. Impeding, or discouraging the loyal peo- 



The President's Plan in Operation 17- 



pie from the organization of a State Government as herein 
authorized. 

Second. That the Secretary of State proceed to put in 
force all laws of the United States the administration whereof 
belongs to the State Department applicable to the geographical 
limits aforesaid. 

Third. That the Secretary of the Treasury proceed to 
nominate for appointment assessors of taxes and collectors of 
customs and internal revenue and such other officers of the 
Treasury Department as are authorized by law and put in 
execution the revenue laws of the United States within the 
geographical limits aforesaid. In making appointments, the 
preference shall be given to qualified loyal persons residing 
within the district where their respective duties are to be per- 
formed; but if suitable residents of the districts shall not be 
found then persons residing in other States or districts shall be 
appointed. 

Fourth. That the Postmaster General proceed to establish 
post offices and post routes and put into execution the postal 
laws of the United States within the said State, giving to loyal 
residents the preference of appointment. . . 

Fifth. That the district judge for the judicial district in 
which North Carolina is included proceed to hold courts within 
said State in accordance with the provisions of the act of 
Congress. The Attorney General will instruct the proper 
officers to libel and bring to judgment, confiscation and sale 
property subject to confiscation and enforce the administra- 
tion of justice within said State in all matters within the cog- 
nizance and jurisdiction of the Federal courts. 

Sixth. That the Secretary of the Navy take possession of 
all public property belonging to the Navy Department within 
said geographical limits and put in operation all acts of Con- 
gress in relation to naval affairs having application to the said 
State. 

Seventh. That the Secretary of the Interior put in force 
the laws relating to the Interior Department, applicable to the 
geographical limits aforesaid. . . 



174 Documentary History of Reconstruction 
Forming a "Johnson" State Government 

Proclamatioii of Lewis E. Parsons, provisional governor of Alabama. 
Before the meeting of the constitutional convention each governor 
appointed by President Johnson formed a provisional administration 
in the manner described in this proclamation. It will be observed 
that the Confederate state administration is made use of. 

[July 20, 1865] 

Now for the purpose of carrying into execution the commands 

of the President, and to enable the loyal people of Alabama to 

secure to themselves the benefits of civil government, I do 

hereby declare and ordain : 

1. That the Justices of the Peace and Constables in each 
county of this State, the members of the Commissioners Court 

. . the County Treasurer, the Tax Collector and Assessor, 
the Coroner and the several municipal officers of each incor- 
porated city or town in the State, who were respectively in 
office and ready to discharge the duties thereof, on the 22nd 
of May, 1865, ^ are hereby appointed to fill those offices dur- 
ing the continuance of this provisional government. . . The 
power is hereby reserved to remove any person for disloyalty 
or for improper conduct in office, or neglect of its duties. . . 

The Judges of Probate and Sheriffs, who were in office on 
the 22nd of May, 1865, will take the oath as herein required 
of other officers, and continue to discharge the duties of their 
respective offices until others are appointed. 

2, Each of these persons just appointed to office must take 
the oath of Amnesty, as prescribed by the President's procla- 
mation of the 29th day of May, 1865, and immediately trans- 
mit the same to this office. . . Each of these officers must 
also give bond and security payable to the State of Alabama, 
as required by the laws of Alabama on the nth day of Janu- 
ary, 1 861. - If any person acts In the discharge of the duties 
of any of the aforesaid offices without having complied with 
the foregoing regulations on his part he will be punished. 
This oath of amnesty and of office may be taken before any 
commissioned officer in the civil, military, or naval service of 
the United States; and the Judge of Probate in each county 
in this State . . may also administer it. . . But no one can hold 

1. The date of the discontinuance of the Confederate state government. 

2. The date of the ordinance of secession. 



The President's Plan in Operation lyq 

any of these offices who is exempted by the proclamation of the 
President from the benefit of amnesty, unless he has been spec- 
ially pardoned. 

3. The appointment of Judge of Probate and Sheriff in 
each county will be made specially, as soon as suitable persons 
are properly recommended, and when appointed they will take 
the oath of amnesty prescribed in the foregoing section, and 
give bond and security as required by the law of Alabama on 
the nth of January, 1861. Any vacancies in any of the 
county offices will be promptly filled when It is made known and 
a proper person recommended. . . 

5. An election for delegates to a convention of the loyal 
citizens of Alabama, will be held in each countv in the State 
on Monday, the 31st day of August next, in the manner pro- 
vided by the laws of Alabama on the nth day of January, 
1861 ; but no person can vote in said election, or be a candidate 
for said election, who is not a legal voter as the law vras on 
that day; and if he is excepted from the benefit of amnesty 
under the President's Proclamation . . he must have obtained 
a pardon. 

6. Every person must vote In the county of his residence, 
and before he Is allowed to do so, must take and subscribe the 
oath of amnesty prescribed in the President's Proclamation 
of the 29th of May, 1S65, before some one of the officers here- 
inafter appointed for that purpose in the county where he 
offers to vote. . . 

7. There will be elected In each county of the State, on 
said day, as many delegates to said Convention as said county 
was entitled to representatives in the House of Representa- 
tives on the nth day of January, 1861; and the delegates 
so elected will receive a certificate of election from the sheriff 
of the county, and will assemble in Convention at the Cap- 
itol In Montgomery, on the loth day of September 1865. . . 

8. From and after this day, the civil and criminal laws 
of Alabama, as they stood on the nth day of January, 1861, 
except that portion which relates to slaves, are hereby de- 
clared to be in full force and operation; and all proceedings 



176 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

for the punishment of offences against them, will be turned ov^er 
to the proper civil officers, together with the custody of the 
person charged, and the civil authorities will proceed in all 
cases according to law. Suits in civil cases now pending, 
whether an original measure, or final process, before any of- 
ficer acting under military authority, will also be turned over 
to the proper civil officer, and will be governed in all things 
by the laws of the State aforesaid. 

9. All unlawful means to punish offenders are hereby 
strictly prohibited. No "vigilance committee" or other organ- 
ization, for the punishment of supposed offenders, not author- 
ized by the laws of the State, will be permitted, and if any 
such are attempted, the person or persons so offending, will 
be promptly arrested and punished. . , If offenders become 
too strong, the military power of the United States will aid 
us. Henceforth that power will act in aid of, and in sub- 
ordination to the civil authority of the State. 

10. The oath which is required to be taken by those who 
desire to vote for delegates to the Convention, may be admin- 
istered by the Judge of Probate of the county where the voter 
lives, or by any Justice of the Peace in said county and by 
officers specially thereunto appointed. . . One copy of said 
oath will be given to the voter and another will be kept by the 
officer before whom it is taken which must be filed with the 
Judge of Probate, and endorsed by the Judge of Probate, 
with affiant's name . . and preserved by him as a part of the 
records of his office. The Judge of Probate must make out 
a certified list of names numbered to correspond with the affi- 
davit, and transmit it to this office by some one of the delegates 
to the Convention. . . 

1 1. There are no slaves now in Alabama. The slave code 
is a dead letter. . . 

13. . . The Sheriffs of the several counties are hereby 
required to keep in readiness a sufficient force of deputies or 
assistants to enable them to execute all legal process and ar- 
rest all offenders promptly, and they will be held strictly ac- 
countable for any neglect of duty in this respect. 



The President's Flan in Operation 177 

President Johnson on Negro Suffrage 

MIcPherson, History of Reconstruction, p. 19. Johnson to Gov W L 
Sharkey of Mississippi. [August 15, 1865] 

I HOPE that without delay your convention will amend your 
State constitution, abolishing slavery and denying to all future 
Legislatures the power to legislate that there is property in 
man; also that they will adopt the amendment to the Consti- 
tution of the United States abolishing slavery. If you could 
extend the elective franchise to all persons of color who can 
read the Constitution of the United States in English and 
write their names, and to all persons of color who own real 
estate valued at not less than two hundred and fifty dollars 
and pay taxes thereon, you v^^ould completely disarm the ad- 
versary and set an example the other States will follow. This 
you can do with perfect safety, and you would thus place 
Southern States in reference to free persons of color upon the 
same basis with the free States. . . And as a consequence the 
radicals, who are wild upon negro franchise, will be completely 
foiled in their attempts to keep the Southern States from 
renevv'ing their relations to the Union by not accepting their 
Senators and Representatives. 



A Debate on the Abolition of Slavery 

Annual Cyclopedia. li^6.j. p. 14. In the Alabama convention. Coleman 
of Choctaw County was also in the convention of 1901 and chairman 
of the committee that framed the restricted suffrage clause. 

[September, 1865] 

IVIr. Coleman, of Choctaw County, contended that on our 
action depended the right of the property of the people. The 
Proclamation of the President and the act of Congress had 
destroyed slavery, but to make it complete required our rati- 
fication, and, before doing so, the validity and constitutionality 
of the proclamation and act of Congress should be tested before 
the Supreme Court of the United States. He recognized the 
right of the United States to pass laws for the punishment of 
crime, but as a State could not commit treason . . and they 
could not be deprived of their property except on trial and 
conviction, those vrho had not been guilty of treason, could 



178 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

not be deprived of their property, although in slaves. Con- 
gress had no right to seize the property of an offender, after 
death, when it should revert to his heirs. . . To admit the 
right of the Federal head by proclamation to nullify the Con- 
stitution of a State, was to concede the loss of the republic 
and the sov^ereignty of the States. The present course pro- 
posed by the majority report was one of expediency, and he 
was not prepared to sacrifice rights, honor, and property to it, 
although there was a great anxiety to get members elected to 
Congress. He denied that the President's Proclamation de- 
manded of the State the abolition of slavery as a test of loy- 
alty . . that a State could not forfeit its rights, but citizens 
might. This was the loyal State of Alabama, and must be so 
regarded, yet were it not through force no member would vote 
to abolish slavery. We had no guarantee that the sacrifice 
would be accepted or that our members of Congress would be 
admitted; nothing would satisfy the Radicals of the North. 
He contended that on this great principle of State rights the 
North was as deeply interested as the South, and that the pre- 
cedent of yielding as proposed by the majority report was too 
dangerous. We should accept the freeing of the slaves by the 
act of the Federal Executive and the bayonet, and it was not 
the free and voluntary act of the people of Alabama. He 
believed that when the country returned to its reason, those 
who had lost their property and who had not participated in 
the rebellion, would be compensated, but the ordinance pro- 
posed an estoppel on all reclamations. 

Judge Foster of Calhoun County, replied as follows: The 
war had settled two questions forever, one that of secession, 
the other of slavery. They had been settled by a power 
whose decision was binding and final, and from which there 
was no appeal — the power of the sword. Disputes between 
individuals could be settled by events, but they have no power 
to adjust differences between States and nations. They must 
be adjusted by compromise and negotiation or submitted to the 
arbitrament of the sword. The decisions of the Supreme 
Court were not respected or obeyed even by political parties. 



The President's Plan in Operation 179 

. . The substitute offered by Mr. \Vhite proposed to await 
the action of the Supreme Court. It was immaterial what 
that action was, so far as it secured us any practical benefit. 

The first ordinance reported by the committee asserted a 
fact, apparent to every one, that the institution of slavery had 
been destroyed, not deciding when or how, whether constitu- 
tionally, or unconstitutionally. . . First, by the act of Con- 
gress and the President's Proclamation; second, by the military 
power of the Government of the United States . . the estab- 
lishment of the Freedmen's Bureau, and the practical severing 
of the tie between master and slave. The ordinance also 
asserted the proposition that we would not revive slavery. . . 
The Government of the United States in every department was 
unalterably determined that slav^ery should no longer exist. 
The edict had gone forth, and we v/ere powerless to resist it. 
We were a subjugated people, and our conquerors could dic- 
tate their own terms. . . 

We could not reduce the negroes to slavery if the United 
States would withdraw their forces and stand aloof. We 
were exhausted, and the attempt would lead to a reenactment 
of the bloody scenes of St. Domingo. . . 

The country needed repose. The people had made up their 
minds that slavery was gone, and w'ere accommodating them- 
selves to the new order of things. It was VvTong to awaken 
delusive hopes that could never be satisfied. Our wisest course 
was in good faith to accept the situation and restore our rela- 
tions with the Federal Union — reorganize our State Gov- 
ernment, that law and order might again prevail in the land. 



Abolition in North Carolina 

Senate Ex. Doc. no. 26. 39 Cong.. 1 Sess.. p. 28. Eacli Southern 
state in its constitutional convention formally abolished slavery be- 
fore the Thirteenth Amendment was ratified. [October 9, 1865] 

Be it declared and ordained by the delegates of the people of 
the State of North Carolina in convention assembled, and it is 
hereby declared and ordained, That slavery and involuntary 
servitude, otherwise than for crimes, whereof the parties shall 



i8o Documentary History of Reconstruction 

have been duly convicted, shall be and is hereby forever pro- 
hibited within the State. 



The Ordinance of Secession Null and Void 

Senate Ex. Doc. no. 26, 39 Cong., 1 Sess., p. 28. Each seceding state 
in its convention declared the ordinance by which it seceded to be 
null and void. Only North Carolina declared that it had always 
been void. [October 7, 1865] 

Be it declared and ordained by the delegates of the good peO' 
pie of North Carolina . . That the ordinance of the conven- 
tion of the State of Carolina, ratified on the twent}^-first day 
of November, seventeen hundred and eighty-nine, which 
adopted and ratified the Constitution of the United States, and 
also all acts and parts of acts of the general assembly rati- 
fying and adopting amendments to the said Constitution, are 
now and at all times since the adoption and ratification thereof 
have been in full force and effect, notwithstanding the sup- 
posed ordinance of the twentieth day of May, eighteen hun- 
dred and sixty-one, declaring that the same be repealed, re- 
scinded and abrogated; and the said supposed ordinance is 
now and at all times hath been null and void. 



Repudiation of the Confederate Debt 

McPherson, History of Reconstruction, p. 19. Johnson to W. W. 
Holden, provisional governor of North Carolina. [October 18, 186i5.] 

Every dollar of the debt created to aid the rebellion against 
the United States should be repudiated finally and forever. 
The great mass of the people should not be taxed to pay a debt 
to aid in carrying on a rebellion which they in fact, if left to 
themselves, were opposed to. Let those who have given their 
means for the obligations of the State look to that power 
they tried to establish in violation of law, constitution, and 
will of the people. They must meet their fate. It is their 
misfortune, and cannot be recognized by the people of any 
State professing themselves loyal to the government of the 
United States and in the Union. I repeat that the loyal peo- 
ple of North Carolina should be exonerated from the payment 



The President's Pla n in Operation i8i 

of every dollar of indebtedness created to aid in the rebellion. 
I trust and hope that the people of North Carolina will wash 
their hands of everything that partakes in the slightest degree 
of the rebellion, which has been so recently crushed by the 
strong arm of the government in carrying out the obligations 
imposed by the Constitution of the Union. 



Organizing a New State Government 

Senate Ex. Doc. no 26, 30 Cong.. 1 Sess., p. 34. In similar manner 
the conventions of the other Southern states provided for setting up 
new administrations. [October 10, 1865] 

Be it ordained by the delegates of the people of the State of 
North Carolina in coiivention assembled . . That a general 
assembly of the State shall be convened on the fourth Monday 
of November, eighteen hundred and sixty-five, the members 
thereof shall hold their places till the next election of such 
members, which shall be held on the first Thursday of Au- 
gust, eighteen hundred and sixty-six. . . 

The provisional governor is hereby authorized and requested 
to issue forthwith to the sheriff of each county a writ, directing 
that an election be held for the senators and members of the 
house of commons of such general assembly on the second 
Thursday of November next, under the rules, regulations, and 
provisions of [the ante-bellum] code. . . 

Immediately on the receipt of the writ, each sheriff shall 
summon the justices of the peace of the courts of pleas and 
quarter sessions to assemble at the court-house on a day ap- 
pointed by him, which shall be as early as practicable; and 
they, or so many as may assemble, shall appoint inspectors 
for each place of election, who shall be forthwith notified of 
their appointment by the sheriff, and they shall conduct the 
elections and make returns of the polls in the manner pre- 
scribed in said [code]. . . 

Each member and voter shall be qualified according to the 
now existing constitution of the State: . . no one shall be 
eligible to a seat or be capable of voting who, being free in all 



182 Documentary History of Reconstructio] 



respects, shall not before the twenty-ninth day of May, eighteen 
hundred and sixty-five, either have voluntarily taken and sub- 
scribed the oath of amnesty prescribed in the proclamations 
of President Lincoln, with the purpose to suppress the insur- 
rection and restore the authority of the United States, and 
thereforward shall have observed the same; or shall not 
have taken and subscribed the oath of amnesty prescribed In 
the proclamation of President Johnson, [of May 29, 1865] 
and who, moreover, shall not. In either case, be of those who 
are excepted from the amnesty granted by any of the said 
proclamations, unless pardoned; . . all persons who may have 
preferred petitions for pardon shall be deemed to have been 
pardoned, If the fact of being pardoned shall be announced 
by the governor, although the pardon may not have been 
received. . . 

For the purpose of ascertaining the qualifications of persons 
proposing to vote, the Inspectors may, and It shall be their 
duty, whenever the vote may be challenged, or they shall have 
cause to suspect that he Is not duly qualified, examine him 
and others on oath, touching the question. . . 

At the same time and places, elections shall be held for 
seven representatives In the Congress of the United States . . 
which shall be conducted under the rules and regulations pre- 
scribed [in the code] for such elections; and the voters in 
said elections shall be such only as shall be qualified to vote for 
members of the house of commons. . . 

At the same time and place, an election shall be held for a 

governor of the State, under the same rules and regulations 

. . and the persons qualified to vote for members of the 

house of commons, under this ordinance, shall be qualified to 

vote for governor. . . 

No person shall be eligible as governor unless he shall be 
qualified according to the constitution of the State, and also 
shall be capable, under the provisions of this ordinance, of 
voting for members of the general assembly, . . 

The governor thus elected shall take his seat as soon as 
the authority of the provisional governor shall cease. . . 



The President's Plan in Operation 183 

The governor thus elected shall continue in office till the 
first day of January eighteen hundred and sixty-seven. 



Laws in Force after the War 

Senate Ex. Doc. no. 2G. .',9 Cong.. 1 Sess., p. 35. Similar ordinances 
were passed by the other state conventions in the South. 

[October 18, 1865] 
Whereas doubt may arise, from the late attempt of the State 
of North Carolina to secede from the United States, whether 
any, and what, laws have been, and are now, in force, and 
what acts, done by officers and individuals, are valid and 
obligatory: Now, for the purpose of preventing such doubt 
about these and other matters hereinafter mentioned. 

Be it declared and ordained by the delegates of the people of 
the State of North Carolina. . . 

1. All laws of the State, except as hereinafter is excepted, 
which on the tw'entieth day of May, eighteen hundred and 
sixty-one, ^ were compatible with the allegiance of the citizens 
of the State to the governor of the United States, and not since 
repealed or modified; and all the laws and ordinances passed 
since that day, except as hereinafter is excepted, compatible 
with such allegiance and not since repealed or modified, and 
w^hich are consistent wnth the constitution of the State and 
the United States, are hereby declared to have been, at all 
times since their enactment, and now to be, in full force, . . 
as if the State had not on that day . . attempted to secede 
from the government of the United States, and as if no ques- 
tion had been made of the law^ful authority of the convention 
assembled on that day, or of any general assembly assembled 
since that day, to enact such laws and ordinances, and all other 
of said ordinances and laws are hereby declared to have been 
and to be null and void. . . 

2. All the judicial proceedings had, or which may be had, 
in the courts of record and before justice of the peace, shall 
be deemed and held valid in like manner . . as if the State 
had not . . attempted to secede from the United States. 



1. The date of secession. 



184 Documentary History of Reconstruction 



3. All contracts, executory and executed, of every nature 
and kind, made on or since the twentieth day of May, eighteen 
hundred and sixty-one, and all marriages solemnized on or 
since that day, under any authority purporting to be the law 
of the State, shall be deemed to be valid and binding between 
the parties . . as if the State had not . . attempted to se- 
cede from the United States; and it shall be the duty of the 
general assembly to provide a scale of depreciation of the 
Confederate currency from the time of its first issue to the 
end of the war; and all executory contracts, solvable in money, 
whether under seal or not, made after the depreciation of said 
currency, before the first day of May, eighteen hundred and 
sixty-five, and yet unfulfilled, (except official bonds and penal 
bonds payable to the State,) shall be deemed to have been 
made with the understanding that they were solvable in money 
of the value of said currency; it shall be competent for either 
of the parties to show, by parol or other relevant testimony, 
what the understanding was in regard to the kind of currency 
in which the same are solvable ; and in such case, the true under- 
standing shall regulate the value of the contract: Provided, 
That in case the plaintiff, in any suit upon such contracts, will 
make an affidavit that it was solvable in other currency than 
that above referred to, then such presumption shall cease, 
and it shall be presumed to be payable in such currency as shall 
be mentioned in the affidavit, subject to explanation by evi- 
dence as aforesaid. 

4. All the acts and doings of the civil officers of the State 
since the twentieth day of May, eighteen hundred and sixty- 
one, done, . . under or in virtue of any authority purport- 
ing to be a law of the State which is consistent with its alle- 
giance to the United States, and with the constitution of the 
State, shall be deemed valid and of the same force and effect 
as if the State had not . . attempted to secede from the United 
States. 

5. No person who may have been in the civil or military 
service of the State, or of the Confederate States, shall be 
held for any act done . . in the proper discharge of the duties 



The President's Plan in Operation igr 

imposed on him by any authority purporting to be a law of 
the State, or Confederate States government; but such per- 
sons shall be exempt from all personal liability therefor, 
as if such act had been done under lawful authority. 

6. All the acts and deeds of the provisional governor of the 
State, appointed by the President of the United States, and 
likewise all the acts of any officer or agent by him appointed 

. . are hereby ratified and declared to be valid. . . 

7. All provisions for a change in those rates of taxation 
that were in force upon the twentieth of May eighteen hun- 
dred and sixty-one . . are hereby repealed. 



Slavery and Suffrage in a New Constitution 

Constitution of Alabama, 1S65. [September 30, 1865] 

Art. I. Sec. 24. That hereafter there shall be in this 
State neither slavery, nor involuntary servitude, othenvise than 
for the punishment of crime, whereof the party shall have 
been duly convicted. 

Art. VIII. Sec. i. Every white male person, of the age 
of twenty-one and upward, who shall be a citizen of the United 
States, and shall have resided in this State one year next pre- 
ceding the election, and the last three months thereof in the 
county in which he offers to vote, shall be deemed a qualified 
elector. 

The Thirteenth Amendment 

Acts and Resohitions. ;W Cong.. 2 Sess.. p. 16S. The resolution pro- 
posing this amendment passed the Senate April 8, 1864, and the House. 
January 31, 1865. President Johnson required the governments that 
he had established in the South to ratify this amendment and thus 
secured ratification of the requisite three-fourths of the States. 

[December 18, 18"65] 

ARTICLE XIII 
Sec. I. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, save as 
a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly 
convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place 
subject to their jurisdiction. 



1 86 Documentary History of Reconstruction 



Sec. 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article 
by appropriate legislation. 



Stanton's Opinion of Johnson's Policy in 1866 

Annual Cyclopedia, 1866, p. 753. [1866] 

These measures received the cordial support of every member 
of the Cabinet, and were approved by the sentiments declared 
by conventions in nearly all of the States. One point of dif- 
ference presented itself, namely, the basis of representation. 
By some it was thought just and expedient that the right of 
suffrage in the rebel States should be secured in some form to 
the colored inhabitants of those States, either as a universal 
rule, or to those qualified by education, or by actual service 
as soldiers who ventured life for their Government. My own 
mind inclined to this view, but after calm and full discussion 
my judgment yielded to the adverse arguments resting upon 
the practical difficulties to be encountered in such a measure, 
and the President's conviction that to prescribe rules of suffrage 
was not within the legitimate scope of his power. . . 



The President's Report on Restoration 

Richardson, Messages and Papers, vol. vi, pp. 357, 372. Annual message 
to Congress, December 4, and special message to Senate, December 
18, 1865. [18'e5] 

[December 4, 1865]. . . I have . . gradually and quietly, 
and by almost imperceptible steps, sought to restore the rightful 
energy of the General Government and of the States. To that 
end, provisional governors have been appointed for the States, 
conventions called, governors elected, legislatures assembled, 
and senators and representatives chosen to the Congress of the 
United States. At the same time, the courts of the United 
States, as far as could be done, have been re-opened, so that 
the lav/s of the United States may be enforced through their 
agency. The blockade has been removed and the customs 
houses re-established in ports of entry, so that the revenue of 
the United States may be collected. The Post Office Depart- 






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Facsimile (reduced) of P.art of Bancroft's Draft of President John- 
son's Message, December 4, 1865; and his Letter to Johnson, 
November 9, 1865 

\_From the original MSS. in thr Library of Congress] 



The President's Plan in Operation 187 

merit renews Its ceaseless activity, and the General Government 
is thereby enabled to communicate promptly with its officers 
and agents. The courts bring security to persons and property ; 
the opening of the ports invites the restoration of industry and 
commerce; the post office removes the facilities of social inter- 
course and of business. . . 

[December 18, 1865] As the result of the measures insti- 
tuted by the Executive, with the view of inducing a resumption 
of the functions of the States, . . the people in North Caro- 
lina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louis- 
iana, Arkansas, and Tennessee, have reorganized their re- 
spective State governments, and "are yielding obedience to the 
laws and Government of the United States" with more wil- 
lingness and greater promptitude than under the circumstances 
could reasonably have been anticipated. The proposed amend- 
ment to the Constitution, providing for the abolition of slav- 
ery forever within the limits of the country, has been ratified 
by each one of those States, with the exception of Mississippi, 
from which no official information has yet been received; and 
in nearly all of them measures have been adopted or are now 
pending, to confer upon freedmen rights and privileges which 
are essential to their comfort, protection and security. In 
Florida and Texas the people are making commendable prog- 
ress In restoring their state governments, and no doubt Is en- 
tertained that they will at an early period be In condition to 
resume all of their practical relations to the Federal Govern- 
ment. 

In "that portion of the Union lately in rebellion" the aspect 
of affairs is more promising than, in view of all the circum- 
stances, could well have been expected. The people through- 
out the entire South evince a laudable desire to renew their 
allegiance to the Government, and to repair the devastations 
of war by a prompt and cheerful return to peaceful pursuits. 
An abiding faith is entertained that their actions will conform 
to their professions, and that in acknowledging the supremacy 
of the Constitution and the laws of the United States, their 
loyalty will be unreservedly given to the Government. . . 



1 88 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

In some of the States the demoralizing effects of the war are 
to be seen in occasional disorders; but these are local in char- 
acter, not frequent in occurrence, and are rapidly disappearing 
as the authority of civil law is extended and sustained. Per- 
plexing questions were naturally to be expected from the great 
and sudden change in the relations between the two races; 
but systems are gradually developing themselves under which 
the freedman will receive the protection to which he is justly 
entitled, and by means of his labor make himself a useful and 
independent member of the community in which he has his 
home. . . I am induced to cherish the belief that sectional 
animosity is surely and rapidly merging itself into a spirit of 
nationality, and that representation, connected with a properly 
adjusted system of taxation, will result in a harmonious restora- 
tion of the relations of the States to the national Union. 



THE "PROVISIONAL" GOVERNiMEXTS IN 
THE SOUTH 



What the War Decided 

Annual Cyclopedia, im. Gov. J. L. Orr's address to the South Caro- 
lina legislature. [October, 186.5] 

The war has decided first: That . . the States of the Fed- 
eral Union have not the right . . to secede therefrom. The 
doctrine of secession . . is now exploded for any practical pur- 
pose. The theory of absolute sovereignty of a State of the 
Federal Union, . . which was believed almost universally to 
be a sound constitutional construction, must also be materially 
modified to conform to this . . decision. In all the powers 
granted in the Constitution to the Federal Government, it is 
supreme and sovereign, and must be obeyed and respected ac- 
cordingly. Where the rights of a State are disregarded, or 
unconstitutional acts done by any department of the Federal 
Government, redress can no longer be sought by interposing the 
sovereignty of the State, either for nullification or secession; 
but the remedy is by petition or remonstrance; by reason, which 
sooner or later will overtake justice; by an appeal to the su- 
preme judicial power of the Union; or by revolution, which 
if unsuccessful, is treason. . . 

The God of Battles has pronounced an irreversible judg- 
ment, after a long, desperate, and sanguinary struggle, and it 
would be neither politic nor patriotic ever again to invoke a 
new trial of the fearful issue. 

The clemency which President Johnson hns so generously 
extended . , in granting full and free pardon for participation 
in the late revolution, does honor to his statesmanship and to 
his sense of justice. He is the ruling power of a great and 
triumphant Government, and by his policy will attach by cords 
stronger than "triple steel" the citizens of one entire section 
of the Union to that Government which he has . . supported 
and maintained. He was well acquainted with the South — 
with her politics and politicians, and knew . . that they hon- 
estly entertained the sentiments which they professed, and for 

189 



190 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

which they perilled their all; and after failing in the end, when 
they proposed to return to their loyalty, that humanity and 
policy dictated that they should not be hunted down for igno- 
minious punishment. . . 

The war decided second: That slavery should be totally 
and absolutely exterminated in all the States of the Union. 
The Convention of this State, with singular unanimity and 
prom.ptness, accepted the result of the issue made, and declared 
in the fundamental law "that slaves having been emancipated 
by the action of the United States authorities, slavery should 
never be reestablished in this State." 



The Effects of the Test Oath 

House Ex. Doc. no. 81, 30 Cong.. 1 Sess. Hugh McCulloch, Secre- 
tary of the Treasury, to the President, March 19, 1866. [1866] 

I AM well satisfied that it will be difficult, if not impossible, to 
find competent men at the south to fill the revenue offices, who 
can qualify under the statute. . . In the progress of the rebel- 
lion very few persons of character and intelligence in most of 
these States failed . . to participate in the hostilities, or to 
connect themselves with the insurgent government. This is 
almost universally true of the young men, who are expected to 
fill the clerkships and other inferior places in the revenue ser- 
vice. . . For those offices that must soon become vacant if 
Congress should not deem it to be safe or proper to modify the 
oath, I am at a loss to know where the right men are to be 
obtained, or how the revenues in many of the southern districts 
are to be collected. . . There are still some applicants for 
office in the southern States who present what they call "a clean 
record for loyalty," but, with rare exceptions, they are persons 
who would have been able to present an equally fair record 
for place under the confederate government if the rebellion had 
been a success, or persons lacking the qualifications which are 
needed in revenue positions. . . 

I do not consider it advisable for the government to attempt 
to collect taxes In the southern States by the hands of strangers. 
. . It would be better for the country, politically and finan- 



The "Pro'visionar Governme nts in the South 191 

cially, to suspend the collection of internal revenue taxes in 
the southern States, except in commercial cities, for months, If 
not for years to come, rather than to undertake to collect them 
by men not identified with the tax-payers in sympathy or in 
interest. . . 

It is difficult to conceive of a more unfortunate course for 
the government of the United States to pursue than to make 
tax-gatherers at the south of men who are strangers to the 
people. 



The "Iron Clad" Test Oath 

statutes at Large, vol. xii, p. 502. This oath was modifieri for 
members of Congress in 186S, for jurors June 30, 1879. and May 13, 
18'84, and finally all of it was repealed on June 6, 1898. There are some 
laws still on the statute book keeping in force the principles of this 
oath. See Revised Statutes, sec. 5334. [July 2, 1862] 

Be it enacted, . . That hereafter every person elected or ap- 
pointed to any office of honor or profit under the government 
of the United States, either in the civil, military or naval de- 
partments of the public service, excepting the President of the 
United States, shall, before entering upon the duties of such 
office, and before being entitled to any of the salary or other 
emoluments thereof, take and subscribe the following oath or 
affirmation: "I. A. E., do solemnly swear (or affirm) that 
I have never voluntarily borne arms against the United States 
since I have been a citizen thereof; that I have voluntarily given 
no aid, countenance, counsel, or encouragement to persons en- 
gaged in armed hostility thereto; that I have neither sought nor 
accepted nor attempted to exercise the functions of any office 
whatever, under any authority or pretended authority In 
hostility to the United States; that I have not yielded a v-olun- 
tary support to any uretended government, authority, power or 
constitution within the United States, hostile or inimical thereto. 
And I do further swear (or affirm) that, to the best of my 
knowledge and ability, I will support and defend the Consti- 
tution of the United States, against all enemies, foreign and 
domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; 
that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reserva- 



192 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

tion or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully 
discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter, 
so help me God;" which said oath, so taken and signed, shall 
be preserved among the files of the court. House of Congress, 
or Department to which the said office may appertain. And 
any person who shall falsely take the said oath shall be guilty 
of perjury, and on conviction, in addition to the penalties now 
prescribed for that offence, shall be deprived of his office and 
rendered incapable forever after of holding any office or place 
under the United States. 



The Alabama Legislature on the State of the Union 

Acts of Alalyama. ISB-l-lSSG. p. 606. Passed after Congress had 
refused to accept the President's work of restoration. 

[February 22, 1866] 

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
State of Alabama, in General Assembly convened, That the 
people of Alabama, and their representatives here assembled, 
cordially approve the policy pursued by Andrew Johnson, 
President of the United States, in the reorganization of the 
Union. We accept the result of the late contest, and do not 
desire to renew what has been so conclusively determined; nor 
do we mean to permit any one subject to our control to attempt 
its renewal, or to violate any of our obligations to the United 
States Gov-ernment. We mean to cooperate in the wise, firm, 
and just policy adopted by the President, with all the energy 
and power we can devote to that object. 

2. That the above declaration expresses the sentiments and 
purposes of our people, and we denounce the efforts of those 
who represent our views and intentions to be different, as cruel 
and criminal assaults on our character and our Interests. It is 
one of the misfortunes of our present political condition that 
we have among us persons whose interests are temporarily pro- 
moted by such false representations; but we rely on the intelli- 
gence and integrity of those who wield the power of the United 
States Government for our safeguard against such malign 
influences. 



The "Provisional" Governments in the South i 



93 



3. That involuntaiy servitude, except for crime, is abol- 
ished, and ought not to be reestablished, and that the negro 
race among us should be treated with justice, humanity and 
good faith, and every means that the wisdom of the Legislature 
can devise should be used to make them useful and intelligent 
members of society. 

4. That Alabama will not voluntarily consent to change 
the adjustment of political power, as fixed by the Constitution of 
the United States, and to constrain her to do so in her present 
prostrate and helpless condition, with no voice in the councils 
of the nation, would be an unjustifiable breach of faith; and 
that her earnest thanks are due to the President for the firm 
stand he has taken against amendments of the Constitution, 
forced through in the present condition of affairs. 

The Legal End of the War 

Richardson, Messages and Papers, vol. vi, p. 431. Proclamation of 
President Johnson, Anril 2, 1866. Texas was excepted until August 
20, 1S66. [1866] 

And whereas there now exists no organized armed resistance of 
misguided citizens or others to the authority of the United 
States in the States of Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia, North 
Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missis- 
sippi and Florida, and the lav.-s can be sustained and enforced 
therein by the proper civil authority. State or Federal, and the 
people of the said States are well and loyally disposed, and have 
conformed or will conform in their legislation to the condition 
of affairs growing out of the amendment to the Constitution of 
the United States, prohibiting slavery within the limits and 
jurisdiction of the United States: 

And whereas, in view of the before recited premises, it is 
the manifest determination of the American people that no 
State, of its own will has the right or power to go out of, or 
separate itself from, or be separated from the American Union, 
and that therefore each State ought to remain and constitute an 
integral part of the L^nited States; 

And whereas the people of the several before mentioned 
States have, in the m.anner aforesaid, given satisfactory evidence 



194 Docirmentary History of Reconstruction 

that they acquiesce In this sovereign and Important resolution 
of national unity; 

And whereas It Is believed to be a fundamental principle of 
government that people who have been overcome and subdued, 
must either be dealt with so as to Induce them voluntarily to 
become friends, or else they must be held by absolute military 
power, or devastated, so as to prevent them from ever again 
doing harm as enemies, which last named policy Is abhorrent to 
humanity and freedom ; 

And whereas the Constitution of the United States provides 
for constituent communities only as States and not as Terri- 
tories, dependencies, provinces, or protectorates ; 

And whereas such constituent States must necessarily be and 
by the constitution and laws of the United States are made 
equals and placed upon a like footing as to political rights, Im- 
munities, dignity, and power, with the several States with which 
they are united; 

And whereas the observance of political equality as a prin- 
ciple of right and justice is well calculated to encourage the 
people of the aforesaid States to be and become more and more 
constant and persevering In their renev/ed allegiance; 

And whereas standing armies, military occupation, military 
law, military tribunals, and the suspension of the privilege of 
the writ of habeas corpus are, In time of peace, dangerous to 
public liberty, incompatible with the individual rights of the 
citizen, contrary to the genius and spirit of our free institutions, 
and exhaustive of the national resources, and ought not, there- 
fore, to be sanctioned or allowed, except In cases of actual 
necessity, for repelling Invasion or suppressing insurrection or 
rebellion; 

And whereas the policy of the Government of the United 
States, from the beginning of the Insurrection to its overthrow 
and final suppression, has been in conformity with the principles 
herein set forth and enumerated: 

Now, therefore, I, Andrew Johnson, President of the United 
States, do hereby proclaim and declare that the insurrection 
which heretofore existed In the States of Georgia, South Caro- 



The ''Provisionar Governm ents in th e So u t/i 19; 

lina, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana, 
Arkansas, Mississippi and Florida is at an end, and is hence- 
forth to be so regarded. 



A Southern Opinion of the "Johnson" Governments 

MS. Letter of Wade Hampton to Andrew Johnson. [1866] 

Having acceded to the terms laid down by your Excellency, 
they supposed that they would be restored to all their rights as 
citizens of the U. S. and they believed fully — whether justly 
or not — that they were entitled to receive these rights, their 
allegiance to the Government being renewed and all their 
duties to it being . . exacted, but the construction which the 
South placed upon the cov^enant which had been made, seems 
not to have been the one received by the authorities at Wash- 
ington, for no sooner had the South conformed to the terms of 
your Proclamation than other conditions were imposed. . . 
First, she found all her state authorities set aside — her 
Gov^ernors imprisoned — her legislatures broken up — her 
Judiciary suppressed — her press muzzled — her Temples 
closed — all by the arbitrary hand of military power. Then 
came the appointment of Presidential Governors, an anomaly 
heretofore unknown in a Government composed of states which 
were once supposed to possess some at least of the attributes 
of sovereignty. By the exercise of an authority . . — whence 
derived has never been clearly explained — these Presidential 
Governors called conventions in their several states and new 
Legislatures w^ere ordered to be chosen. These conventions, 
once the highest tribunals recognized by sovereign states, the 
great High Courts of a free people — met, registered the de- 
crees framed at Washington and disappeared. After an ex- 
istence as inglorious as it was brief, "unwept, unhonored and 
unsung" each convention was followed by its own bastard 
offspring, the Legislature of its creation, a political "nullius 
fillus"— a body somewhat "after the order of Melchesidec, 
without father, without mother, without descent," fit successors 
of most unhonored predecessors. I speak of these bodies in 



196 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

their political and collective capacity, not of the individuals 
composing them, for that these latter were actuated in most in- 
stances by the highest patriotism is evidenced by the fact that 
for the sake of the country, they consented to serv^e in Mr. 
Seward's Legislatures. When these Legislatures met in what 
was literally "extraordinary session" what a spectacle was pre- 
sented ! In these halls where once the free representatives of 
sovereign states were wont to discuss the highest questions of 
polity, all subjects were strictly tabooed save such as were 
dictated from Washington, and it required no great stretch of 
imagination to fancy that one heard in the votes but the echoes 
of Mr. Seward's "little bell." The telegraph lines offered a 
ready means by which that manipulator could use to its fullest 
extent his "judicious admixture of pressure and persuasion," 
and under this new but convenient system the proceedings of 
the Legislatures consisted solely in recording the dicta of the 
Supreme Justice in Washington. 



3. OPPOSITION OF CONGRESS 
Congress Rejects the President's Work 

statutes at Large, vol. xiv, p. 27. Passed over the President's veto 
it was later incorporated in the Fourteenth Amendment. This was 
the first important measure passed over Johnson's veto. The next 
was the Freedmen's Bureau Act. [April 9, 1866] 

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives in Con- 
gress assembled, That a joint committee of fifteen members 
shall be appointed, nine of whom shall be members of the 
House and six members of the Senate, who shall enquire into 
the conditions of the States which formed the so-called Con- 
federate States of America, and report whether they or any of 
them are entitled to be represented in either House of Congress, 
with leave to report at any time by bill or othen\'ise; and until 
such report shall have been made and finally acted upon by 
Congress, no member shall be received into either House from 
any of the said so-called Confederate States; and all papers 
relating to the representation of the said States shall be referred 
to the said committee without debate. 



Civil Rights Act of 1866 

statutes at Large, \ol. xiv, p. 27. Passed over the President's veto 
on April 6 by the Senate and on April 9 by the House. In principle 
it was later incorporated in the Fourteenth Amendment. This was 
the first important measure passed over Johnson's veto. The next 
was the Freedmen's Bureau Act. [April 9, 1S66] 

Be it enacted, . . That all persons born in the United States 
and not subject to any foreign power, excluding Indians not 
taxed, are hereby declared to be citizens of the United States; 
and such citizens, of every race and color, without regard to 
any previous condition of slavery or involuntary servitude, ex- 
cept as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been 
duly convicted, shall have the same right, in every State and 
Territory in the United States, to make and enforce contracts, 
to sue, be parties, and give evidence, to inherit, purchase, lease, 
sell, hold, and convey real and personal property, and to full 
and equal benefit of all laws and proceedings for the security of 

197 



198 Documentary History of Reconstruction 



person and property, as is enjoyed by white citizens, and shall be 
subject to like punishment, pains and penalties, and to none 
other, any law, statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom, to the 
contrary notwithstanding. 

Sec. 2. . . Any person who, under color of any law, statute, 
ordinance, regulation, or custom, shall subject, or cause to be 
subjected, any inhabitant of any State or Territory to the de- 
privation of any right secured or protected by this act, or to 
different punishment, pains, or penalties on account of such 
person having at any time been held in a condition of slavery 
or involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime 
whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, or by reason 
of his color or race, than is prescribed for the punishment of 
white persons, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on 
conviction, shall be punished by fine not exceeding one thousand 
dollars, or imprisonment not exceeding one year, or both, in 
the discretion of the court. 

Sec. 3. . . The district courts of the United States . . 
shall have, exclusively of the courts of the several States, cog- 
nizance of all crimes and offenses committed against the pro- 
visions of this act, and also, concurrently with the circuit courts 
of the United States, of all causes, civil and criminal, affecting 
persons who are denied or cannot enforce in the courts or 
judicial tribunals of the State or locality where they may be 
any of the rights secured to them by the first section of this act; 
and if any suit or prosecution, civil or criminal, has been or shall 
be commenced in any State court, against any such person, for 
any cause whatsoever, or against any officer, civil or military, 
or other person, for any arrest or imprisonment, trespasses, or 
wrongs done or committed by virtue or under color of authority 
derived from this act or the act establishing a Bureau for the 
relief of Freedmen and Refugees, and all acts amendatory 
thereof, or for refusing to do any act upon the ground that it 
would be inconsistent with this act, such defendant shall have 
the right to remove such cause for trial to the proper district or 
circuit court. . . The jurisdiction in civil and criminal matters 
hereby conferred on the district and circuit courts of the United 



opposition of Congress 



109 

States shall be exercised and enforced in conformity with the 
laws of the United States, so far as such laws are suitable to 
carry the same into effect; but in all cases where such laws are 
not adapted to the object, or are deficient in the provisions neces- 
sary to furnish suitable remedies and punish offenses against 
law, the common law, as modified and changed by the con- 
stitution and statute of the State wherein the court having 
jurisdiction of the cause, civil or criminal, is held, so far as the 
same is not inconsistent with the Constitution and laws of the 
United States, shall be extended to and govern said courts in 
the trial and disposition of said cause, and, if of a criminal 
nature, in the infliction of punishment on the party found guilty. 
Sec. 4. . . The district attorneys, marshals, and deputy 
marshals of the United States, the commissioners appointed by 
the circuit and territorial courts of the United States, with 
powers of arresting, imprisoning or bailing offenders against the 
laws of the United States, the officers and agents of the Freed- 
men's Bureau, and every other officer who may be specially em- 
powered by the President of the United States, shall be, and 
they are hereby, specially authorized and required, . . to insti- 
tute proceedings against all and every person who shall violate 
the provisions of this act, and cause him or them to be arrested 
and imprisoned, or bailed, as the case may be, for trial before 
such court of the United States or territorial court as by this 
act has cognizance of the offense. And with a view to affording 
reasonable protection to all persons in their constitutional rights 
of equality before the law, without distinction of race or color, 
or previous condition of slavery or involuntary servitude, except 
as a punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been 
duly convicted, and to the prompt discharge of the duties of 
this act, it shall be the duty of the circuit courts of the United 
States, and the superior courts of the Territories of the United 
States, from time to time, to increase the number of commis- 
sioners, so as to afford a speedy and convenient means for the 
arrest and examination of persons charged with a violation of 
this act; and such commissioners are hereby authorized and re- 
quired to exercise and discharge all the powers and duties con- 



200 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

ferred on them by this act, and the same duties with regard to 
offenses created by this act, as they are authorized by law to 
exercise w^ith regard to other offenses against the laws of the 
United States. 

Sec. 5. . . It shall be the duty of all marshals and deputy 
marshals to obey and execute all warrants and precepts issued 
under the prov^isions of this act, when to them directed; and 
should any marshal or deputy marshal refuse to receive such 
warrant or other process when tendered, or to use all proper 
means diligently to execute the same, he shall, on conviction 
thereof, be fined in the sum of one thousand dollars, to the use 
of the persons upon whom the accused is alleged to have commit- 
ted the offense. And the better to enable the said commissioners 
to execute their duties faithfully and efficiently, in conformity 
with the Constitution of the United States and the require- 
ments of this act, they are hereby authorized and empowered, 
within their counties respectively, to appoint in writing, under 
their hands, any one or more suitable persons, from time to 
time, to execute all such warrants and other such process as 
may be issued by them in the lawful performance of their re- 
spective duties : and the persons so appointed to execute any 
warrant or process as aforesaid shall have authority to summon 
and call to their aid the bystanders or posse comitatus of the 
proper county, or such portion of the land or naval forces of 
the United States, or of the militia, as may be necessary to the 
performance of the duty with which they are charged, and to 
insure a faithful observance of the clause of the Constitution 
which prohibits slavery, in conformity with the provisions of 
this act; and such warrants shall run and be executed by said 
officers anywhere in the State or Territory within which they 
are issued. 

Sec. 6. . . Any person who shall knowingly and wilfully 
obstruct, hinder or prevent any officer, or other person charged 
with the execution of any warrant or process issued under the 
provisions of this act, or any person or persons lawfully assisting 
him or them, from arresting any person for whose apprehension 
such warrant or process may have been issued, or shall rescue or 



opposition of Congress 



201 



icer. 



attempt to rescue such person from the custody of the offic.. 
other person or persons, or those lawfully assisting as afore- 
said, when so arrested pursuant to the authority herein given 
and declared, or shall aid, abet, or assist any person so arrested 
as aforesaid, directly or Indirectly, to escape from the custody 
of the officer or other person legally authorized as aforesaid, 
or shall harbor or conceal any person for whose arrest a war- 
rant or process shall have been issued as aforesaid, so as to pre- 
vent his discovery and arrest after notice or knowledge of the 
fact that a warrant has been issued for the apprehension of 
such person, shall for either of said offenses, be subject to a fine 
not exceeding one thousand dollars, and imprisonment not ex- 
ceeding six months, by indictment and conviction before the 
district court of the United States for the district in which said 
offense may have been committed, or before the proper court 
or criminal jurisdiction. If committed within any one of the 
organized Territories of the United States. 

Sec. 7. [Relates to fees, etc.] 

Sec. 8. . . Whenever the President of the United States 
shall have reason to believe that offenses have been or are likely 
to be committed against the provisions of this act within any 
judicial district, it shall be lawful for him, in his discretion, to 
direct the judge, marshal, and district attorney of such district 
to attend at such place within the district, and for such time as 
he may designate, for the purpose of the more speedy arrest and 
trial of persons charged with violation of this act; and It shall 
be the duty of every judge or other officer, when any such re- 
quisition shall be received by him, to attend at the place and 
for the time therein designated. 

Sec. 9. . . It shall be lawful for the President of the 
United States, or such person as he may empower for that pur- 
pose, to employ such part of the land or naval forces of the 
United States, or of the militia, as shall be necessary to prevent 
the violation and enforce the due execution of this act. 

Sec. 10. . . Upon all questions of law arising in any cause 
under the provisions of this act a final appeal may be taken to 
the Supreme Court of the United States. 



202 Documentary History of Reconstructioi 



The Restoration of Tennessee 

statutes at Large, vol. xiv, p. 364. The attitude of Congress toward 
the President's plans is shown in the preamble. [July 24, 1866] 

Whereas, In the year eighteen hundred and sixty-one, the 
government of the State of Tennessee was seized upon and 
taken possession of by persons In hostility to the United States, 
and the Inhabitants of said State in pursuance of an act of Con- 
gress were declared to be In a state of insurrection against the 
United States; and whereas said State government can only 
be restored to Its former political relations In the Union by 
the consent of the law-making power of the United States; and 
whereas the people of said State did, on the twenty-second day 
of February, eighteen hundred and sixty-five, by a large popular 
vote, adopt and ratify a constitution of government whereby 
slavery was abolished, and all ordinances and laws of secession 
and debts contracted under the same were declared void; and 
whereas a State government has been organized under said Con- 
stitution which has ratified the amendment to the Constitution 
of the United States abolishing slavery, also the amendment 
proposed by the thirty-ninth Congress, and has done other acts 
proclaiming and denoting loyalty; therefore. 

Be it resolved, . . That the State of Tennessee is hereby re- 
stored to her former proper, practical relations to the Union, 
and is again entitled to be represented by senators and repre- 
sentatives In Congress. 



4. MILITARY GOVERNMENT, 1 865-1 866 



War Department Archives. The following general orders will illus- 
trate the activity of the army before and during the existence of 
the governments set up by the President. [1865-1866] 

[G. O. No. 5, Military Di-jisioii of the James, 
May 3, iS6^. Gen. HaUeek] 

I. A Court of Conciliation, consisting of three Arbitrators 
will be established in the city of Richmond. 

II. This Court will arbitrate such cases as may be brought 
before it in regard to the right of possession of property, both 
personal and real, and to the payment of rents and debts, where 
contracts were made upon the basis of confederate currency, 
which now has no legal existence. This Court will take no 
jurisdiction of questions of title to property, nor will its decision 
be any bar to legal remedies when the civil laws and civil courts 
are re-established. 

III. The Court will issue the regular process for the attend- 
ance of parties and witnesses and the execution of its decisions; 
appoint its clerks and other officers ; and adopt rules for its pro- 
ceedings. The fees charged will be simply sufficient to pay its 
expenses. Any surplus will be given to the poor. All parties 
bringing suit in this Court, and all attorneys and agents appear- 
ing for them, will be required to take the amnesty oath. No 
fees will be charged the poor. 

IV. In its decisions the Court will be governed by the 
principles of equity and justice. All alike, white and colored, 
will be allowed the benefit of its jurisdiction. All proceedings 
will be simple and brief, and directed solely to ascertaining and 
securing exact justice. 

V. The Provost Marshal will refer to this Court all ques- 
tions which come properly within the jurisdiction, and will adopt 
its decisions so far as concerns the disposition of property be- 
longing to private parties, now in his hands. 

VI. As soon as the civil courts are re-established the Court 
of Conciliation will cease its functions. 

203 



204 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

[G. O. No. g8, Department of North Carolina, 
July 10, 1865. Gen. Ruger] 

Sufficient time having elapsed for all those formerly officers 
in the so-called confederate service to remove all badges, mili- 
tary buttons, braid, cord, or other articles designating rank, as 
required by good taste and a proper respect for the government 
of their country, it is directed that they now remove them. 

All persons found with such articles on, five days after the 
publication of this order at any post, will have the same taken 
off them by the Provost Marshal (unless satisfactory evidence 
is furnished by the wearers of their Ignorance of this order,) 
and will be detained In arrest for violation of the same. Com- 
manders of Districts will circulate this order at once after re- 
ceiving it, and cause particular information to be given to all 
persons known to wear such insignia. 



[G. O. No. I2Q, July 25, 186^. JVar Department. 
Secretary of JFar] 

To secure equal justice and the same personal liberty to the 
freedmen as to other citizens and Inhabitants, all orders Issued 
by post, district, or other commanders, adopting any system of 
passes for them or subjecting them to any restraints or punish- 
ments not imposed on other classes, are declared void. 

Neither whites nor blacks will be restrained from seeking 
employment elsewhere when they cannot obtain It at a just com- 
pensation at their homes, and when not bound by voluntary 
agreement; nor will they be hindered from traveling from place 
to place on proper and legitimate business. 

[G. O. No. 102, Department of the South, 

July 2/, i86s- Gen. O. A. Gilmore'\ 

V. The [Provost] courts . . shall have power to try all 

cases between citizens, and between citizens and soldiers, and all 

crimes and all violations of military orders and the laws of the 

United States which do not come within the jurisdiction of a 



Military Government 20c 

court martial, and to issue the regular process for the attend- 
ance of witnesses, and decrees for the possession of property, 
and for the payment of debts, damages and costs. The decrees 
will go only to the right of possession and not of property. 
They may impose fines not exceeding one hundred dollars . . 
and imprisonment not exceeding two months. Offenses by 
citizens requiring a severe punishment, will be tried by a mili- 
tary commission. They will appoint their clerks and their 
officers, shall keep a record of their proceedings subject to the 
revision of subdistrict and higher commanders, and will adopt 
rules and forms of procedure, which shall be as simple as possi- 
ble. Citizen members of courts may be allowed three dollars 
for each days' attendance. The fees charged will be merely 
sufficient to pay all expenses. 

VI. Appeals from the Provost Courts will be had to the 
sub-district and district commanders, under such rules and on 
such terms as the district commanders may provide. 

VII. All parties to suits before the . . Provost Courts may 
employ counsel. But all persons bringing suit or appearing 
as counsel before said courts, as well as the citizen members of 
said courts, will be required to give proof that they have taken 
the oath of allegiance. 

{^Secretary Stanton to Gen. G. H. Thomas at 
Nashville, August S, 1865'] 

General : It having been determined by the Government 
to relinquish control over all railroads . . that have been in 
charge of, and are now occupied by the United States Military 
authorities, and no longer needed for military purposes, you 
are hereby authorized and directed to turn over the same to 
the respective owners thereof, at as early a date as practicable, 
causing in all cases of transfer as aforesaid, the following regu- 
lations to be observed and carried out: 

1 . Each and every Company will be required to re-organize, 
and elect a Board of Directors, whose loyalty shall be estab- 
lished to your satisfaction. 

2. You will cause to be made out in triplicate, by such 



2o6 Documentary History of Reconstriictio?i 

person or persons, as you may Indicate, a complete inventory of 
the rolling stock, tools, and other materials and property on 
each road. 

3. Separate inventories will be in the same manner made 
of the rolling stock, and other property originally belonging to 
each of said roads, and that furnished by and belonging to the 
Government. 

4. Each Company will be required to give bonds satisfac- 
tory to the Government, that they will in twelve months from 
the date of transfer, as aforesaid, or such other reasonable 
time as may be agreed upon, pay a fair valuation for the Gov- 
ernment property turned over to said companies, the same being 
first appraised by competent and disinterested parties, at a fair 
valuation, the United States reserving all Government dues for 
carrying mails, and other service performed by each Company, 
until said obligations are paid; and if, at the maturity of said 
debt, the amount of Government dues retained as aforesaid 
does not liquidate the same, the balance is to be paid by the 
Company in money. 

5. Tabular statements will be made of all expenditures by 
the Government for repairing each road, with a full statement 
of receipts from private freights, passage, and other sources; 
also a full statement of all transportation performed on Gov- 
ernment account, giving the number of persons transported, and 
amount of freight, and the distance carried in each case, all of 
said reports or tabular statements to be made in triplicate; 
one each for the Secretary of War, the Military Head-Quarters 
of the Department, and the Railroad Company. 

6. All railroads in Tennessee w^ill be required to pay all 
arrearages of interest due on the bonds issued by that State 
prior to the date of its pretended secession from the Union, to 
aid in the construction of said roads, before any dividends are 
declared or paid to the stockholders thereof. 

7. Buildings erected for government purposes on the line 
of railroads, and not valuable or useful for the business of said 
companies, should not form a legitimate charge against such 
companies, nor should they be charged for rebuilding houses, 
does not liquidate the same, the balance is to be paid by the 



Military Government 207 



bridges, or other structures, which were destroyed by the Fed- 
eral army. 

[G. O. No. I, Department of South Carolina, 
January i, 1S66. Gen. D. E. Siektes] 

. . II. All laws shall be applicable alike to all the inhab- 
itants. No person shall be held incompetent to sue, make 
complaint, or to testify, because of color or caste. 

III. /Ml the employments of husbandry or of the useful 
arts, and all lawful trades or callings, may be followed by all 
persons, irrespective of color or caste; nor shall any freedmen 
be obliged to pay any tax or any fee for a license, nor be amen- 
able to any municipal or parish ordinance, not imposed upon 
all other persons. . . 

IV. . . No person will be restrained from seeking employ- 
ment when not bound by voluntary agreement, nor hindered 
from travelling from place to place on lawful business. All com- 
binations or agreements which are intended to hinder . . the 
employment of labor — or to limit compensation for labor — 
or to compel labor to be involuntarily performed in certain 
places or for certain persons; as well as all combinations or 
agreements to prevent the sale or hire of lands or tenements, 
are declared to be misdemeanors; and any person or persons 
convicted thereof shall be punished by fine not exceeding five 
hundreci dollars, or by imprisonment, not to exceed six months, 
or by both such fine and imprisonment. . . 

VI. Freed persons unable to labor, by reason of age, or 
infirmity, and orphan persons of tender years, shall have allot- 
ted to them by the ovv^iers suitable quarters on the premises 
where they have been heretofore domiciled as slaves, until ade- 
quate provision approved by the General Commanding, be 
made for them by the State or local authorities, or otherwise; 
and they shall not be removed from the premises, unless for 
disorderly behavior, misdemeanor, or other offense committed 
by the head of a family or a member thereof. 

VII. Ablebodied freedmen, when they leave the premises 
in which they may be domiciled, shall take with them and pro- 



2o8 Documentary History of Reconstructio?i 

vide for such of their relatives, as, by the laws of South Caro- 
lina, all citizens are obliged to maintain. 

VIII. When a freed person, domiciled on a plantation, 
refuses to work there, after having been offered employment 
by the owner or lessee, on fair terms, approved by the agent of 
the Freedmen's Bureau, such freedman or woman, shall remove 
from the premises within ten days after such offer, and due 
notice to remove by the owner or occupant. 

IX. When ablebodied freed persons are domiciled on prem- 
ises where they have been heretofore held as slaves, and are not 
employed thereon or elsewhere, they shall be permitted to re- 
m.ain, on showing to the satisfaction of the Commanding officer 
of the Post that they have made diligent and proper efforts to 
obtain employment. . . 

XL Any person employed or domiciled on a plantation or 
elsewhere, who may be rightfully dismissed by the terms of 
agreement, or expelled for misbehavior, shall leave the prem- 
ises, and shall not return without consent of the owner or 
tenant thereof. . . 

XIII. The vagrant laws of the State of South Carolina, 
applicable to free white persons, will be recognized as the only 
vagrant laws applicable to freedmen. . . 

XV. The proper authorities of the State in the several 
municipalities and Districts, shall proceed to make suitable 
provisions for their poor, without distinction of color; in de- 
fault of which, the General Commanding will levy an equitable 
tax on persons and property sufficient for the support of the 
poor. 

XVI. The constitutional rights of all loyal and well dis- 
posed inhabitants to bear arms, will not be Infringed; neverthe- 
less this shall not be construed to sanction the unlawful practice 
of carrying concealed weapons; nor to authorize any person to 
enter with arms on the premises of another without his consent. 
No one shall bear arms who has borne arms against the United 
States, unless he shall have taken the Amnesty oath prescribed 
in the Proclamation of the President of the United States, dated 
May 29th, 1865, or the Oath of Allegiance, prescribed in the 



Military Govej-nment 



209 

Proclamation of the President, dated December 8th, 1863, 
within the time prescribed therein. 

XVII. . . No penalties or punishments diiierent from those 
to which all persons are amenable, shall be imposed on freed 
people; and all crimes and offenses which arc prohibited under 
existing laws, shall be understood as prohibited in the case of 
freedmen; and if committed by a freedman, shall, upon con- 
viction, be punished in the same manner as if committed by a 
white man. 

XVIII. Corporal punishment shall not be inflicted upon 
any person other than a minor, and then only by the parent, 
guardian, teacher, or one to whom said minor is lawfully bound 
by indenture of apprenticeship. . . 

[G. O. No. 3, War Department, Adjutant General's Office, 
Gen. Grant, January 12, 1866'] 
Military Division and Department Commanders, whose 
commands embrace, or are composed of, any of the late rebel- 
lious States, and who have not already done so, will at once 
issue and enforce orders protecting from prosecution or suits 
in the State or Municipal Courts of such States, all officers and 
soldiers of the armies of the United States, and all persons 
thereto attached, or in any wise thereto belonging, subject to 
military authority, charged with offences for acts done in their 
military capacity or pursuant to orders from proper military 
authority; and to protect from suit or prosecution all loyal 
citizens or persons charged with offences done against the rebel 
forces, directly or indirectly, during the existence of the rebel- 
lion, and all persons, their agents or employees, charged with 
the occupancy of abandoned lands or plantations, or the pos- 
session or custody of any kind of property whatever, who 
occupied, used, possessed, or controlled the same, pursuant to 
the order of the President, or any of the Civil or Military De- 
partments of the Government, and to protect them from any 
penalties or damages that may have been or may be pronounced 
or adjudged in said Courts in any such cases; and also protect- 
ing colored persons from prosecutions in any of said States 



2IO Documentary History of Reconstruction 

charged with offenses for which white persons are not prose- 
cuted or punished in the same manner and degree. 

\_Gen. Grant to Gen. H. G. IF right of Department of 
Texas, February ij , 18661 

You will please send to these Headquarters, as soon as prac- 
ticable, and from time to time thereafter, such copies of news- 
papers published in your Department as contain sentiments of 
disloyalty and hostility to the Government in any of its branch- 
es, and state whether such paper is habitual in its utterances of 
such sentiments. The persistent publication of articles cal- 
culated to keep up a hostility of feeling between the people 
of different sections of the country, can not be tolerated. This 
information is called for with a view to their suppression, which 
will be done from these Headquarters only. 

[G. O. No. 6, Military Division of the Tennessee, 
February 21, 1866. Gen. Thomas'] 

The officers of the Treasury Department of the United 
States, charged with the collection of Direct Taxes and In- 
ternal Revenues in the several States composing this Military 
Division, having been, by reason of the refusal of certain Indi- 
viduals to cancel their just indebtedness to the Government, 
repeatedly compelled to invoke the aid and assistance of mili- 
tary authority in the full performance of their duties — it Is 
hereby ordered, that hereafter any and all persons neglecting 
or refusing to pay to the proper officers such . . [taxes] shall 
be liable to arrest and trial before a military commission. 

[G. O. No. 44, July 6, 1866. Gen. Grant] 

Department, District, and Post Commanders in the States 
lately in rebellion are hereby directed to arrest all persons who 
have been or may hereafter be charged with the commission of 
crimes and offenses against officers, agents, citizens, and inhabi- 
tants of the United States, irrespective of color. In cases where 
the civil authorities have failed, neglected, or are unable to 
arrest and bring such parties to trial, and to detain them in 



Military Government 



211 



military confinement until such time as a proper judicial tri- 
bunal may be ready and willing to try them. A strict and 
prompt enforcement of this order is required. 

[G. O. No. 7, Department of the South, Charleston, 
September i, iS66. Gen. Sickles] 

I. Organizations of white or colored persons bearing arms, 
or Intended to be armed, not belonging to the mllltan- or naval 
forces of the United States, are unauthorized, and will not be 
allowed to assemble, parade, patrol, drill, m.ake arrests or exer- 
cise any authority. This will not be construed to prohibit the 
lawful enrollment of the militia. . . 

III. Associations or assemblages, composed of persons who 
served In the rebel forces, having for their object the perpetua- 
tion of any military or civil organization engaged in the rebel- 
lion, or the commemoration of any of the acts of the insurgents 
prior to the fatal surrender, will not be permitted. This pro- 
hibition will not be enforced against any society formed for a 
charitable purpose, which shall in good faith confine its action 
to the relief of the poor. 

[G. O. No. 75, Department of the South, Charleston, 
October i, 1S66. Gen. Sickles] 

I. The Civil Courts of the United States for South Caro- 
lina are open, and all cases of which they have legal cognizance 
will be remitted to them. Citizens held for trial for violation 
of the laws of the United States, will be surrendered to the 
custody of the United States Marshal, on proper warrant. 
Depositions, evidence and papers in such cases will be forward- 
ed to the United States District Attorney for South Carolina. 

II. The Courts of the State of South Carolina as now 
constituted and to be organized, are declared by law to be 
open to all persons, with equal civil rights therein, without 
distinction or discrimination In any particular, on account of 
color or former servitude. All cases, civil or criminal. In which 
the parties are civilians, will be turned over to the judicial tri- 
bunals of the State, having jurisdiction of the same. Civilians 



212 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

in military custody, awaiting trial, for offenses against the laws 
of South Carolina, will be surrendered on proper warrant, to 
the custody of the Sheriff of the District in which the crime is 
charged to have been committed; and all depositions, proofs 
and papers in these cases will be transmitted to the Prosecuting 
Solicitor for the Circuit in which such District is situated. 

III. Military Provost Courts will be discontinued in the 
several Districts as soon as District Courts shall be organized 
therein. . . 

IV. The jails now in possession of the Military Authori- 
ties will be restored to the Sheriffs of the several Districts. 
Prisoners undergoing sentence of Military Courts, having less 
than thirty days of their terms of imprisonment unexpired, will 
be discharged. All other prisoners in Jails, undergoing sen- 
tence of Military Courts, will be sent under guard, with a 
brief statement of the case showing the offense and term of 
imprisonment, to the Commanding officer of the Post of 
Charleston, who will cause them, to be confined in Castle Pinck- 
ney for the remainder of their respective terms of imprisonment. 



5. NATIONAL POLITICS, 1866 
Secretary Seward on the Questions at Issue 

Annual Cyclopedia. ISW, p. 755. flSm 

Excuse me for expressing surprise that you ask me whether 
I approve of the call of a proposed National Union Convention 
at Philadelphia. 

i\fter more than five years of dislocation by civil war, I 
regard a restoration of the unity of the country as its most 
immediate as well as its most vital interest. That restoration 
will be complete when loyal men are admitted as representa- 
tives of the loyal people of the eleven States so long unrepre- 
sented in Congress. Nothing but this can complete it. Noth- 
ing more remains to be done, and nothing more is necessary. 
Ev^ery day's delay is attended by multiplying and increasing 
inconveniences, embarrassments, and dangers at home and 
abroad. Congress possesses the power exclusively; Congress 
after a session of seven months, still omits to exercise that 
power. "What can be done to induce Congress to act?" Thi^ 
is the question of the day. Whatever is done must be in ac- 
cordance with the Constitution and laws. It is in perfect ac- 
cordance with the Constitution and laws that the people of the 
United States shall assemble by delegates, in convention, and 
that when so assembled they shall address Congress by respect- 
ful petition and remonstrance, and that the people in their 
several States, districts, and Territories, shall approve, sanc- 
tion, and unite in such respectful representations to Congress. 
No one party could do this effectually or even seems willing to 
do it, alone; no local or popular organization could do it 
effectually. It is the interest of all parties alike; of all the 
States, and of all sections — a national interest; the Interest of 
the whole people. 

Platform of National Union Party 

McPherson, History of Reconstruction, p. 241. Adopted at Phila- 
delphia. [August 14, 1866] 

2. The war just closed has maintained the authority of the 
Constitution with all the powers with which it confers, and all 

213 



214 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

the restrictions which it imposes upon the General Government, 
unabridged and unaltered, and it has preserved the Union, 
with the equal rights, dignity, and authority of the States 
perfect and unimpaired. 

3. Representation in the Congress of the United States, 
and in the electoral college is a right recognized by the Consti- 
tution as abiding in every State, and as a duty imposed upon 
the people, fundamental in its nature, and essential to the 
existence of our republican institutions, and neither Congress 
nor the General Government has any authority or power to 
deny this right to any State, or to withhold its enjoyment under 
the Constitution from the people thereof. 

4. We call upon the people of the United States to elect to 
Congress as members thereof none but men who admit this 
fundamental right of representation, and who will receive to 
seats therein loyal representatives from every State in allegi- 
ance to the United States, subject to the constitutional right of 
each House to judge of elections, returns, and qualification of 
its own members. 

5. The Constitution of the United States, and the laws 
made in pursuance thereof, are the supreme law of the land, 
anything in the constitution or laws of any State to the contrary 
notwithstanding. All the powers not conferred by the Consti- 
tution upon the General Government, nor prohibited by it to 
the States, are reserved to the States, or to the people thereof; 
and among the rights thus reserved to the States, is the right 
to prescribe qualifications for the elective franchise therein, 
with which right Congress cannot interfere. No State or com- 
bination of States has the right to withdraw from the Union, 
or to exclude, through their action in Congress or otherwise, 
any other State or States from the Union. The Union of these 
States is perpetual. 

6. Such amendments to the Constitution of the United 
States may be made by the people thereof as they may deem 
expedient, but only in the mode pointed out by its provisions; 
and in proposing such amendments whether by Congress or by 
a convention, and in ratifying the same, all the States of the 



National Politics 21 C 



Union have an equal, and indefeasible right to a voice and a 
vote thereon. 

7. Slavery is abolished and forever prohibited, and there 
is neither desire or purpose on the part of the Southern States 
that it should ever be reestablished upon the soil, or within the 
jurisdiction of the United States; and the enfranchised States 
in all the States of the Union should receive, in common with 
all their inhabitants equal protection in every right of person 
and property. 

8. While we regard as utterly invalid, and never to be 
assumed or made of binding force, any obligations incurred or 
undertaken in making war against the United States, we hold 
the debt of the nation to be sacred and inviolable; and we pro- 
claim our purpose in discharging this, as in performing all 
other national obligations, to maintain unimpaired and unim- 
peached the honor and faith of the Republic. 

9. It is the duty of the National Government to recognize 
the services of the Federal soldiers and sailors in the contest 
just closed, by meeting promptly and fully all their just and 
rightful claim for the services they have rendered the nation, 
and by extending to those of them who have survived and to 
the widows and orphans of those who have fallen, the most 
generous and considerate care. 

10. In Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, 
who, in his great office, has proved steadfast in his devotion to 
the Constitution, the laws, and interest of his country, unmoved 
by persecution and undeserved reproach, having faith unas- 
sailable in the people and in the principles of free government, 
we recognize a chief magistrate worthy of the nation, and 
equal to the great crisis upon which his lot is cast; and we 
tender to him, in the discharge of his high and responsible du- 
ties, our profound respect and assurance of our cordial and 
sincere support. 



Cleveland Convention Platform 

History of Reconstruction, p. 243. This coi 
Union soldiers and sailors who supported 

[Septeml 

The Union soldiers and sailors who served in the army and 



McPherson, History of Reconstruction, p. 243. This convention was 
composed of Union soldiers and sailors who .supported the adminis- 
tration. [September 17, 1866] 



2i6 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

navy of the United States in the recent war for the suppres- 
sion of the insurrection, the maintenance of the Constitution, 
the Government, and the (lag of the Union, . . determined 
now, as heretofore, to stand by the principles for which their 
glorious dead have fallen, and by which the survivors have 
triumphed, being assembled in National Mass Convention in 
the city of Cleveland, Ohio, . . do resolve and declare — 

1. That we heartily approve the resolutions adopted by the 
National Union Convention held in the city of Philadelphia, 
. . composed of delegates representing all the States and Ter- 
ritories of the United States. 

2. That our object in taking up arms to suppress the late 
rebellion was to defend and maintain the Constitution, and to 
preserve the Union with all the dignity, equality, and rights of 
the several States unimpaired, and not in any spirit of oppres- 
sion, nor for any purpose of conquest and subjugation; and 
that whenever there shall be any armed resistance to the lav/- 
fully constituted authorities of our national Union, either in 
the South or in the North, in the East or in the West, emulat- 
ing the self sacrificing patriotism of our revolutionary fore- 
fathers, we will again pledge to its support "our lives, our for- 
tunes, and our sacred honor." 



Pittsburg Convention Resolutions 

Mcpherson, History of Reconstruction, p. 247. These resolutions 
were introduced by Gen. B. F. Butler and adopted by the Soldiers 
and Sailors Convention at Pittsburg. [September 26, 1866] 

Resolved, That the action of the present Congress in passing 
the pending constitutional amendment is wise, prudent, just. 
It clearly defines American citizenship, and guarantees all his 
rights to every citizen. It places on a just and equal basis the 
right of representation, making the vote of a man in one State 
equally potent with the vote of another man in any State. It 
righteously excludes from places of honor and trust the chief 
conspirators, guiltiest rebels, whose perjured crimes have 
drenched the land in fraternal blood. It puts into the very 
frame of our government the inviolability of the national debt 



National Politics 217 



and the nullity forever of all obligations contracted in support 
of the rebellion. 

2. That it is unfortunate for the country that these propo- 
sitions have not been received in the spirit of conciliation, clem- 
ency, and fraternal feeling in which they were offered, as they 
are the mildest terms ever offered to subdued rebels. 

3. That the President, as an executive officer, has no right 
to a policy as against the legislative department of the Govern- 
ment; that his attempt to fasten his scheme of reconstruction 
upon the country is as dangerous as it is unwise; his acts in 
sustaining it have retarded the restoration of peace and unity; 
they have converted conquered rebels into impudent claimants 
to rights which they have forfeited, and places which they 
have desecrated. If consummated, it would render the sacrifices 
of the nation useless, the loss of the lives of our burled com- 
rades vain, and the war in which we have so gloriously tri- 
umphed, what his present friends at Chicago in 1864 declared 
to be a failure. 

4. That the right of the conqueror to legislate for the con- 
quered has been recognized by the public law of all civilized 
nations; by the operation of that law for the conservation of 
the good of the whole country. Congress has the undoubted 
right to establish measures for the conduct of the revolted 
States, and to pass all acts of legislation that are necessary for 
the complete restoration of the Union. 

5. That when the President claims that by the aid of the 
army and navy he might have made himself dictator, he in- 
sulted every soldier and sailor in the Republic. He ought 
distinctly to understand that the tried patriots of this nation 
can never be used to overthrow civil liberty or popular gov- 
ernment. . . 

7. That the Union men of the South, without distinction 
of race or color, are entitled to the gratitude of every loyal 
soldier and sailor who served his country in suppressing the 
rebellion, and that in their present dark hours of trial, when 
they are being persecuted by thousands, solely because they are 
now, and have been, true to the Government, we will not 



21 8 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

prov'C recreant to our obligations, but will stand by and pro- 
tect with our lives, if necessary, those brave men w^ho remain 
true to us when all around are false and faithless. 



President Johnson's Cleveland Speech 

Trial of Andretc Johnson, vol. i, pp. 333-335. The Cleveland HeralcL 
(Johnson paper) version. [September 3, 1866] 

Fellow-Citizens of Cleveland: It is not for the purpose 
of making a speech that I came here to-night. I am aware 
of the great curiosity that exists on the part of strangers in 
reference to seeing individuals who are here amongst us. 
[Louder.] You must remember there are a good many peo- 
ple here to-night, and it requires a great voice to reach the 
utmost verge of this vast audience. I have used my voice so 
constantly for some days past that I do not know as I shall 
be able to make you all hear, but I w'ill do my best to make 
myself heard. 

What I am going to say is : There is a large number here 
who would like to see General Grant, and hear him speak, 
and hear what he would have to say; but the fact is General 
Grant is not here. He is extremely ill. His health will not 
permit of his appearing before this audience to-night. It 
would be a greater pleasure to me to see him here and have 
him speak than to make a speech of my own. So then it will 
not be expected that he will be here to-night, and you cannot 
see him on account of his extreme indisposition. 

Fellow-citizens, in being before you to-night it is not for the 
purpose of making a speech, but simply to make your acquaint- 
ance, and while I am telling you how to do, and at the same 
time tell you good-bye. We are here to-night on our tour 
towards a sister State for the purpose of participating in and 
witnessing the laying of the chief corner stone over a monu- 
ment to one of our fellow-citizens who is no more. It is not 
necessary for me to mention the name of Stephen A. Douglas 
to the citizens of Ohio. It is a name familiar to you all, and 
being on a tour to participate in the ceremonies, and passing 
through your State and section of country and witnessing the 



National Politics ^jq 



demonstration and manifestation of regard and respect which 
has been paid me, I am free to say to you that so far as I am 
concerned, and I think I am speaking for all the company, when 
I say we feel extremely gratified and flattered at the demon- 
stration made by the country through which we have passed, 
and in being flattered, I w^ant to state at the same time that I 
don't consider that entirely personal, but as evidence of what 
is pervading the public mind, that there is a greater issue be- 
fore the country, and that this demonstration of feeling is 
more than anything else an indication of a deep interest among 
the great mass of the people in regard to all these great ques- 
tions that agitate the public mind. In coming before you to- 
night, I come before you as an American citizen, and not simply 
as your Chief Magistrate. I claim to be a citizen of the south- 
ern States, and an inhabitant of one of the States of this Union. 
I know that it has been said, and contended for on the part of 
some, that I was an alien, for I did not reside in any one of 
the States of the Union, and therefore I could not be Chief 
Magistrate, though the States declared I was. 

But all that was necessary was simply to introduce a resolu- 
tion declaring the ofiice vacant or depose the occupant, or under 
some pretext to prefer articles of impeachment, and the indi- 
vidual w^ho occupies the Chief Magistracy w^ould be deposed 
and deprived of powder. 

But, fellow-citizens, a short time since you had a ticket be- 
fore you for the Presidency and Vice-Presidency; I was placed 
upon that ticket, in conjunction WMth a distinguished fellow-citi- 
zen who is now no more. [Voice, "A great misfortune too."] I 
know there are some who will exclaim, "Unfortunate." I ad- 
mit the ways of Providence are mysterious and unfortunate 
but uncontrollable by those who would exclaim unfortunate. 
I was going to say, my countrymen, but a short time since I 
was selected and placed upon a ticket. There was a platform 
prepared and adopted by those who placed me upon it, and now, 
notwithstanding all kinds of misrepresentation; notwithstand- 
ing since after the sluice of misrepresentation has been poured 
out; notwithstanding a subsidized gang of hirelings have tra- 



220 Documentary History of Reconstruction 



duced me and maligned me ever since I have entered upon the 
discharge of my official duties, yet I will say had my predeces- 
sor have lived, the vials of wrath would have been poured 
out on him. [Cries of "Never, never, never."] I come here 
to-night in passing along, and being called upon, for the pur- 
pose of exchanging opinions and views as time would permit, 
and to ascertain if we could who was in the wrong. 

I appear before you to-night and I want to say this: that 
I have lived and been among all American people, and have 
represented them in some capacity for the last twenty-five years. 
And where is the man living, or the woman in the community, 
that I have wronged, or where is the person that can place 
their finger upon one single hairbreadth of deviation from one 
single pledge I have made, or one single violation of the Con- 
stitution of our country ? What tongue does he speak ? What 
religion does he profess? Let him come forward and place 
his finger upon one pledge I have violated. [A voice, "Hang 
Jeff Davis."] [Mr. President resumes.] Hang Jeff Davis? 
Hang Jeff Davis? Why don't you? [Applause.] Why 
don't you? [Applause.] Have you not got the court? 
Have you not got the court ? Have you not got the Attorney 
General? Who is your Chief Justice, and that refused to sit 
upon the trial? [Applause.] I am not the prosecuting attor- 
ney. I am not the jury. But I will tell you what I did do; 
I called your Congress that Is trying to break up the govern- 
ment. [Immense applause.] Yes, did your Congress order 
hanging Jeff Davis? [Prolonged applause, mingled with 
hisses]. 

But, fellow-citizens, we had as well let feelings and prejudices 
pass; let passion subside; let reason resume her empire. In 
representing myself to you in the few remarks I intended to 
make, my Intention was to address myself to your judgment 
and to your good sense, and not to your anger or the malignity 
of your hearts. This was my object in presenting myself on 
this occasion, and at the same time to tell you good-bye. I 
have heard the remark made in this crowd to-night, "Traitor, 
traitor!" [Prolonged confusion.] My countrymen, will you 



National Politics 221 



hear me for my cause? For the Constitution of my country? 
I want to know when, where and under what circumstances 
Andrew Johnson, either as Chief Executive, or in any other 
capacity, ever violated the Constitution of his country. Let 
me ask this large and intelligent audience here to-night, if your 
Secretary of State, who served four years under Mr. Lincoln, 
who was placed under the butcher's blow and exposed to the 
assassin's knife, when he turned traitor. If I were disposed to 
play orator, and deal in declamation, here to-night, I would 
imitate one of the ancient tragedies we have such account of — 
I would take William H. Seward, and open to you the scars 
he has received. I would exhibit his bloody garment and show 
the rent caused by the assassin's knife. [Three cheers for 
Seward.] Yes, I would unfold his bloody garments here to- 
night and ask who had committed treason. I would ask why 
Jeff Davis was not hung? Why don't you hang Thad. Stevens 
and Wendell Phillips? I can tell you, my countrymen, I have 
been fighting traitors in the south, [prolonged applause,] and 
they have been whipped, and say they were wrong, acknowl- 
edge their error and accept the terms of the Constitution. 

And now as I pass around the circle, having fought traitors 
at the south, I am prepared to fight traitors at the north, God 
being willing with your help ["You can't have it," and pro- 
longed confusion] they would be crushed worse than the trait- 
ors of the south, and this glorious Union of ours will be pre- 
served. In coming here to-night, it was not coming as Chief 
Magistrate of twenty-five States, but I come here as the Chief 
Magistrate of thirty-six States. I came here to-night with 
the flag of my country in my hand, with a constellation of 
thirty-six and not twenty-five stars. I came here to-night with 
the Constitution of my country intact, determined to defend 
the Constitution let the consequences be what they may. I 
came here to-night for the Union; the entire circle of these 
States. [A voice, "How many States made you President?"] 
How many States made me President? Was you against se- 
cession? Do you want to dissolve the Union? [A voice, 
"No."] Then I am President of the whole United States, 



222 Documetifary History of Reconstructio?i 

and I will tell you one thing. I understand the discordant 
notes in this audience here to-night. And I will tell you, 
furthermore, that he that is opposed to the restoration of the 
government and the Union of the States, is as great a traitor 
as Jeff. Davis, and I am against both of them. I fought 
traitors at the south; now I fight them at the north. [Im- 
mense applause.] 

I will tell you another thing; I know all about those boys 
that have fought for their country. I have been with them 
down there when cities vrere besieged. I know who was with 
them when some of you, that talk about traitors, had not cour- 
age to come out of your closets, but persuaded somebody else 
to go. 

Very courageous men ! While Grant, Sherman, Farragut, 
and a long host of the distinguished sons of the United States 
were in the field of battle you were cowards at home; and 
now when these brave men have returned, many of them hav- 
ing left an arm or leg on some battle-field while you were at 
home speculating and committing frauds upon your govern- 
ment, you pretend now to have great respect and sympathy 
for the poor fellow who left his arm on the battle-field. I 
understand you, who talk about the duty of the President, and 
object to his speech of the 22d of July, [voice, "22d of Feb- 
ruary,"] — - 22d of February. I know who have fought the 
battles of the country, and I know who is to pay for it. Those 
brave men shed their blood and you speculated, got money, 
and now the great mass of the people must work it out. [Ap- 
plause and confusion.] I care not for your prejudices. It is 
time for the great mass of the American people to understand 
what your designs are in not admitting the Southern States 
when they have come to terms and even proposed to pay their 
part of the national debt. I say, let them come; and those 
brave men, having conquered them, and having prostrated 
them in the dust with the heel of power upon them, what do 
they say? [Voice, "What does General Butler say?"] Gen- 
eral Butler? What does General Grant say? And what does 
General Grant say of General Butler? What does General 



National Politics 



22' 



Sherman say? He says he is for restoration of the govern- 
ment; and General Sherman fought for it. 

But fellow-citizens, let this all pass. I care not for mahg- 
nity. There is a certain portion of our countrymen that will 
respect their fellow-citizen whenever he is entitled to respect, 
and there is another portion that have no respect for them- 
selves, and consequently have none for anybody else. I know 
a gentleman when I see him. And furthermore, I know when 
I look a man in the face — [Voice, "Which you can't do."] 
I wish I could see you; I will bet now, if there could be a light 
reflected upon your face, that cowardice and treachery could 
be seen in it. Show yourself. Come out here where we can 
see you. If ever you shoot a man, you will stand in the dark 
and pull your trigger. I understand traitors; I have been fight- 
ing them for five years. We fought it out on the southern 
end of the line; now we are fighting in the other direction. 
And those men — such a one as insulted me to-night — you 
may say, has ceased to be a man, and in ceasing to be a man 
shrunk into the denomination of a reptile, and having so 
shrunken, as an honest man, I tread upon him. I came here 
to-night not to criminate or recriminate, but when provoked 
my nature is not to advance but to defend, and when encroached 
upon, I care not from what quarter it comes, it will find re- 
sistance, and resistance at the threshold. As your Chief Mag- 
istrate I have felt, after taking an oath to support the Consti- 
tution of my country, that I saw the encroachment of the enemy 
upon your sovereign rights. I saw the citadel of liberty in- 
trenched upon and, as an honest man, being placed there as a 
sentinel I have dared to sound the tocsin of alarm. Should I 
have ears and not hear; have a tongue and not speak when the 
enemy approaches? 

And let me say to-night that my head has been threatened. 
It has been said that my blood was to be shed. Let me say 
to those who are still willing to sacrifice my life [derisive 
laughter and cheers], if you want a victim and my country 
requires it, erect your altar, and the individual v.ho addresses 
you tonight, while here a visitor, ["No," "No," and laughter,] 



224 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

erect your altar if you still thirst for blood, and if you want it, 
take out the individual who now addresses you and lay him 
upon your altar, and the blood that now courses his veins and 
warms his existence shall be poured out as a last libation to 
Freedom. I love my country, and I defy any man to put his 
finger upon anything to the contrary. Then what is my of- 
fence? [Voices, "You ain't a radical," "New Orleans," 
"Veto."] Somebody says "Veto." Veto of what? What 
is called the Freedmen's Bureau bill, and in fine, not to go into 
any argument here to-night, if you do not understand what the 
Freedmen's Bureau bill is, I can tell you. [Voice, "Tell us."] 
Before the rebellion there were 4,000,000 called colored per- 
sons held as slaves by about 340,000 people living in the South. 
That is, 340,000 slave owners paid expenses, bought land, 
and worked the negroes, and at the expiration of the year when 
cotton, tobacco, and rice were gathered and sold, after all pay- 
ing expenses, these slave owners put the money in their pockets 
— [slight interruption] — your attention — they put the 
property in their pocket. In many instances there was no 
profit, and many came out in debt. Well that is the way 
things stood before the rebellion. The rebellion commenced 
and the slaves were turned loose. Then we come to the Freed- 
men's Bureau bill. And w^hat did the bill propose? It pro- 
posed to appoint agents and sub-agents in all the cities, counties, 
school districts, and parishes, with power to m.ake contracts for 
all the slaves, power to control, and power to hire them out — 
dispose of them, and in addition to that the whole military 
power of the government applied to carry it into execution. 

Now [clamor and confusion] I never feared clamor. I 
have never been afraid of the people, for by them I have always 
been sustained. And when I have all the truth, argum.ent, fact 
and reason on my side, clamor nor affront, nor animiosities 
can drive me from my purpose. 

Now to the Freedmen's Bureau. W^hat was it? Four mil- 
lion slaves were emancipated and given an equal chance and 
fair start to make their own support — to work and produce; 
and having worked and produced, to have their own property 



National Politics 22 C 



and apply it to their own support. But the Freedmen's Bureau 
comes and says we must take charge of these 4,000,000 slaves. 
The bureau comes along and proposes, at an expense of a frac- 
tion less than $12,000,000 a year, to take charge of these 
slaves. You had already expended $3,000,000,000 to set them 
free and give them a fair opportunity to take care of them- 
selves — then these gentlemen, who are such great friends of 
the people, tell us they must be taxed $12,000,000 to sustain 
the Freedmen's Bureau. [Great confusion.] I would rather 
speak to 500 men that would give me their attention than to 
100,000 that would not. [With all this mass of patronage 
he said he could have declared himself dictator.] 

The Civil Rights bill was more enormous than the other. 
I have exercised the veto power, they say. Let me say to you 
of the threats from your Stevenses, Sumners, Phillipses, and all 
that class, I care not for them. As they once talked about 
forming a "league with hell and a covenant with the devil," 
I tell you, my countrymen, here to-night, though the power 
of hell, death and Stevens with all his powers combined, there 
Is no power that can control me save you the people and the 
God that spoke me into existence. Tn bidding you farewell 
here to-night, I would ask you with all the pains Congress has 
taken to calumniate and malign me, what has Congress done? 
Has it done anything to restore the Union of the States? But, 
on the contrary, has it not done everything to prevent it? 

And because I stand now as I did when the rebellion com- 
menced, I have been denounced as a traitor. My countrymen 
here to-night, who has suffered more than I? Who has run 
greater risk? Who has borne more than I? But Congress, 
factious, domineering, tyrannical Congress has undertaken to 
poison the minds of the American people, and create a feeling 
against me in consequence of the manner in which I have dis- 
tributed the public patronage. 

While this gang — this common gang of cormorants and 
bloodsuckers, have been fattening upon the country for the 
past four or five years — men never going into the field, who 
growl at being removed from their fat offices, they are great 



226 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

patriots! Look at them all over your district? Everybody 
is a traitor that is against them. I think the time has come 
when those who stayed at home and enjoyed fat offices for the 
last four or five years — I think it would be more than right 
for them to give way and let others participate in the benefits 
of office. Hence you can see why it is that I am traduced 
and assaulted. I stood by these men who were in the field, and 
I stand by them now. 

I have been drawn into this long speech, while I intended 
simply to make acknowledgments for the cordial welcome; 
but if I am insulted while civilities are going on I will resent it 
In a proper manner, and In parting here to-night I have no 
anger nor revengeful feelings to gratify. All I want now, 
peace has come and the war is over, is for all patriotic men 
to rally round the standard of their country, and swear by their 
altars and their God, that all shall sink together but what 
this Union shall be supported. Then in parting with you 
to-night, I hang over you this flag, not of 25 but of 36 stars; 
I hand over to you the Constitution of my country, though 
Imprisoned, though breaches have been made upon it, with 
confidence hoping that you will repair the breaches; I hand 
It over to you, in whom I have always trusted and relied, and, 
so far, I have never deserted — and I feel confident, while 
speaking here to-night, for heart responds to heart of man, 
that you agree to the same great doctrine. 

Then farewell ! The little ill-feelings aroused here to-night 
— for some men have felt a little ill — let us not cherish them. 
Let me say. In this connection, there are many white people in 
this country that need emancipation. Let the work of eman- 
cipation go on. Let white men stand erect and free. [A 
voice, "What about New Orleans?"] You complain of the 
disfranchisement of the negroes In the southern States, while 
you would not give them the right of suffrage in Ohio to-day. 
Let your negroes vote In Ohio before you talk about negroes 
voting. Take the beam out of your own eye before you see the 
mote In your neighbor's eye. You are very much disturbed 
about New Orleans ; but you will not allow the negro to vote 
In Ohio. . . 



National Politics 227 



This IS all plain; we understand this all. And In parting 
with you to-night, let me Invoke the blessing of God upon you 
expressing my sincere thanks for the cordial manner In which 
you have received me. 



6. POLITICS IN THE SOUTH, 1866 



The Politics of the Southern Soldiers 

Annual Cyclopedia, 1866, p. 759. Resolutions adopted by a conven- 
tion of soldiers at Memphis. [1866] 

Whereas, a convention of the Union Soldiers and Sailors, are 
now in session in the city of Cleveland, Ohio, having under 
consideration the best mode in which to restore the Union of 
these States and to cement that bond of fraternal friendships 
so sundered by the late war; and 

Whereas, we, the soldiers of the late army of the Confed- 
erate States feeling and being in sympathy with the movement 
of our late adversaries to restore our country to its former state 
of peace, happiness, and prosperity; and 

Whereas, we believe that our stern advocacy of the princi- 
ple for which we conscientiously struggled during a period of 
four years will be rather a recommendation of our sincerity, 
and honorable purposes to the brave soldiers of the Union; 
therefore. 

Resolved, That we have seen with pleasure the movements 
made by the soldiers and sailors of the Union, for the preser- 
vation of which they have so long fought; and that we have 
no fears that wrong or injustice will be done to us by those 
we have learned on the battle-field to respect as "foemen worthy 
of our steel." . . 

We tender to them a soldier's pledge of our fidelity to the 
Government, of our assistance in the maintenance of law and 
order, and our earnest desire for the return of that day when 
the American people can say with truth they "know no North, 
no South, no East, and no West." . . 

The charge that the life, liberty, or property of Northern 
men is unsafe or unprotected in the South is a slander which 
could only have emanated from the cowardly fears of "fire- 
side heroes," or from the corrupt machinations of reckless 
oflice-holders, grown desperate at the approach of retributive 
justice, and the loss of power and place. 

228 



Politics in the South, 1 866 229 

The Louisiana Democratic Platform 

Annual Cyclopedia, 1865, p. 512. [October 2 1865] 

JVhereas, The National Democratic party of the State of 
Louisiana, in general convention assembled, fully recognizing 
the fact of the issue, . . was made openly, manfully, and hon- 
orably, and that the decision having gone against them, and. 

Whereas, We have now come forward in the same spirit 
of frankness and honor to support the Federal Government 
under the Constitution. Therefore, 

Resolved, That we give our unqualified adhesion to the Na- 
tional Democracy of the United States, and that we recognize 
that party as the only agent by which radicalism can be suc- 
cessfully met, and this Government restored to its pristine 
purity and vigor. 

Resolved, That we emphatically approve of the views of 
President Johnson with regard to the reorganization of the 
State Governments of the South, whereby the rights of the 
respective States are kept unimpaired, and in consequence of 
which these States are to regulate their institutions as freely 
and with the same guarantees and privileges as are enjoyed by 
any other State in the Union. . . 

Resolved, That we hold this to be a Government of white 
people, made and to be perpetuated for the exclusive benefit 
of the white race; and in accordance with the constant adjudi- 
cation of the United States Supreme Court, that people of 
African descent cannot be considered as citizens of the United 
States, and that there can, in no event, nor under any circum- 
stances, be any equality between the white and other races. 

Resolved, That while we announce emphatically our opinion 
that the Constitution of 1864 is the creation of fraud, violence, 
and corruption, and is not in any sense the expression of the 
sovereign will of the people of Louisiana, and while we be- 
lieve that it should be repudiated and abolished as speedily as 
it can be done legally, yet, as the Government organized under 
it is a de facto Government, and the only de facto Government 
in the State of Louisiana; as the election about to be held is 
called under that Constitution, by an officer holding his position 



230 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

under that Constitution; as the recognition of Governor J. 
Madison Wells by the President, Andrew Johnson, Is to that 
extent a recognition of that Constitution and of the Govern- 
ment organized under It, and as this convention has no right to 
make or alter Constitutions or forms of government, we, there- 
fore, recognize it as the existing Government, but recommend 
the calling of a convention of the people of the State at the 
earliest practicable period, for the purpose of adopting a Con- 
stitution expressing the will of the entire people of the State. 

Resolved, That the institution of slavery having been effec- 
tually abolished In the Southern States, we consider It our right 
to petition Congress for compensation for all losses sustained 
by the emancipation policy, . . 

Resolved, That we advocate the repeal of all ordinances and 
laws found to have been passed in Louisiana, and which are 
not in harmony with the Constitution and laws of the General 
Government, and which are not the deed of bodies constituted 
by the people at large. . . 

We most earnestly and strongly appeal for an early general 
amnesty and prompt restitution of property; assured that 
thereby impending total ruin will be averted and the domestic 
tranquility of the Southern States successfully insured. 

Resolved, That we Invite all law-abiding citizens who agree 
with us upon the measures and principles above enumerated, 
without distinction of nationalities, to join us In our opposi- 
tion to the Radical Republican party, whose tendency and aim 
are to centralize and consolidate a Government on the ruins 
of our State Institutions. 



Radical Politics in Virginia 

Annual Cyclopedia. ISfiG, p. 766. Resolutions adopted by the Repub- 
lican estate Convention. [May, 1866] 

Resolved, That no reorganized State Government of Vir- 
ginia should be recognized by the Government of the United 
States which does not exclude from suffrage and holding office, 
at least for a term of years, all persons who have voluntarily 
given moral or material support to rebellion against the United 



Politics in the South, 1866 



231 



States, and which does not, with such disfranchisement, provide 
for the immediate enfranchisement of all Union men, without 
distinction of color. . . 

^ Resolved, That while the late rebels affect to accept the 
situation, they not only hold the same opinion still in regard 
to [Secession], but openly advocate their views in that respect 
as a basis of party action in the future, as we believe for the 
purpose of accomplishing with votes what they have failed to 
accomplish with bayonets. 



Speeches of a Radical Agitator 

Anmial Cyclopedia. 1S6G. pp. 451, 454. Speeches of Dr. Dostie, a radical 
leader of New Orleans. Dostie was killed in the riot that followed the 
re-assembling of the Convention of 18'64. [January, 1866] 

He congratulated the people that the gigantic rebellion was 
crushed; that its leaders languished in prison, and that the 
country was restored to its former tranquillity, minus slavery 
and sectional feeling. The progressive age demanded the 
overthrow of a Southern aristocracy in the liberation of four 
millions of people, and the best blood of the land purchased 
it. . . They would be compelled to quit their political heresies 
as they had quitted the field. The Republican party could not 
endure to lose the precious boon of liberty at the hands of 
what is left of an insolent aristocracy. They stand upon the 
broad platform of an equality of rights. It is said that negro 
suffrage is impracticable owing to the ignorance of the race. 
The speaker went on to show how rapidly they were being 
educated, and with what avidity they sought after knowledge. 
. . In our beloved land, we have our Banks and our Butlers, 
and a hundred others, all worshippers at the altar of liberty and 
universal suffrage. The same is the opinion entertained by 
all great men abroad. In Brazil in Jamaica, and the French 
West Indies, all free persons of whatever color, are allowed to 
vote. In five New England States negroes have been voting 
since the Revolutionary War. George Washington cast his 
ballot in the same box with a colored man. Thirty years ago 
in nearly every State colored men had a right to vote. . . 



232 Documentary History of Reconstructio?i 

I want the negroes to have the right of suffrage, and we will 
give them this right to vote. There will be another meeting 
here to-morrow night, and on Monday I want you to come in 
your power. I want no cowards to come. I want only brave 
men to come, who will stand by us, and we will stand by them. 
Come, then, in your power to that meeting, or never go to 
another political meeting in this State. We have three hun- 
dred thousand black men with white hearts. Also one hundred 
thousand good and true Union white men, who will fight for 
and beside the black race against the hell-hound rebels, for now 
there are but two parties here. There are no copperheads 
now. Colonel Field, now making a speech inside, is heart and 
soul with us. He and others who would not a year ago speak 
to me, now take me by the hand. We are four hundred thou- 
sand to three hundred thousand, and can not only whip but 
exterminate the other party. Judge Abel with his grand jury 
may indict us. Harry Hayes, with his posse comitatus, may be 
expected there, and the police, with more than a thousand men 
sworn in, may Interfere with the convention; therefore let all 
brave men, and not cowards, come here on Monday. There 
will be no such puerile affair as at Memphis, but, if interfered 
with, the streets of New Orleans will run with blood ! The 
rebels say they have submitted and accept the situation, but 
want you to do the work and they will do the voting; and will 
you throw over them "the mantle of charity and oblivion?" 

"We will! We will!" was the unanimous response of the 
excited throng, to which Dr. Dostie vehemently replied: 

"No, by God! we won't. We are bound to have universal 
suffrage, though you hav^e the traitor, Andrew Johnson, against 
you." 

A Negro Politician in Florida 

John Wallace, Carpet Bag Rule in Florida, p. 38. Wallace was a 
negro representative from Leon County in the Florida senate. 

[1866] 

Early In 1866 It was reported that the freedmen would be 
enfranchised, and many of them thinking the right had already 
occurred, called a secret meeting for the election of a member 



Politics in the South, 1 806 



of Congress. The meeting was held at the A. M. E. Church 
In Tallahassee, and Joseph Oats, formerly a slave of Governor 
Walker, was unanimously elected. The next step was to raise 
money to send the newly elected Congressman to Washington. 
The money was forthcoming, as plenty of old men and women 
gave their last dollar to send one of their race to the National 
Congress. Seven hundred dollars were thus raised and given 
to Oats, who shortly afterwards was off to Congress. He re- 
mained away from Tallahassee until his money was gone, when 
he wrote back designating the time when he would return. . . 
The 20th of May, the day on which General McCook marched 
his troops into Tallahassee, and declared all the inhabitants 
to be free, was the day set apart for Oats to tell the freedmen 
the great work he had accomplished in Congress. . . Oats' 
speech was, that he had seen the President, and they had true 
friends at Washington etc. It was believed, however, that 
Oats did not go further than Savannah, where he had a good 
time, spent the freedmen's money, and returned home. After 
Oats had finished his story about the President, and his great 
labors In Congress the crowd set up their huzzas for half an 
hour and then sat down to a sumptuous dinner. Whisky was 
plentiful on the ground and was freely Imbibed by the freed- 
men. A dispute arose among them as to where Oats had 
been. And the affair ended in a general knock down and 
drag out. 



REJECTION OF THE FOURTEENTH 
AMENDMENT 



Alexander H. Stephens on the Conditions of 
Reconstruction 

Report of Joint Committee on Reconstruction, pt. iii, p. 1C3. Stephens 
was Vice-President of the Confederate States. [IS'Ge] 

I THINK the people of the State would be unwilling to do more 
than they have done for restoration. Restricted or limited 
suffrage would not be so objectionable as general or universal. 
But it is a matter that belongs to the State to regulate. The 
question of suffrage, whether universal or restricted, is one of 
State policy exclusively, as they believe. Individually I should 
not be opposed to a proper system of restricted or limited 
suffrage to this class of our population. . . The only view in 
their opinion that could possibly justify the war that was car- 
ried on by the federal government against them was the idea 
of the indissolubleness of the Union ; that those who held the 
administration for the time were bound to enforce the execu- 
tion of the laws and the maintenance of the integrity of the 
country under the Constitution. . . They expected as soon as 
the confederate cause was abandoned that immediately the 
states would be brought back Into their practical relations with 
the government as previously constituted. They expected 
that the States would Immediately have their representatives 
in the Senate and in the House; and they expected In good 
faith, as loyal men, as the term is frequently used — loyal to 
law, order, and the Constitution — to support the government 
under the Constitution. . . Towards the Constitution of the 
United States the great mass of our people were always as 
much devoted In their feelings as any people ever were towards 
any laws or people. . . They resorted to secession with a 
view of more securely maintaining these principles. And when 
they found they were not successful in their object In perfect 
good faith, as far as I can judge from meeting with them and 
conversing with them, looking to the future development of 

234 



Rejection of the Fourteen th Amendment 235 

their country, . . their earnest desire and expectation was to 
allow the past struggle . . to pass by and to co-operate with 
. . those of all sections who earnestly desire the preservation 
of constitutional liberty and the perpetuation of the government 
in its purity. They have been . . disappointed in this, and 
are . . patiently waiting, however, and believing that when 
the passions of the hour have passed away this delay in rep- 
resentation will cease. . . 

My own opinion is that these terms ought not to be offered 
as conditions precedent. . . It would be best for the peace, 
harmony, and prosperity of the whole country that there should 
be an immediate restoration, an immediate bringing back of 
the States into their original practical relations; and let all 
these questions then be discussed in common council. Then 
the representatives from the south could be heard, and you 
and all could judge much better of the tone and temper of the 
people than you could from the opinions given by any indi- 
viduals. . . My judgment, therefore, is very decided, that 
it would have been better as soon as the lamentable conflict was 
over, when the people of the south abandoned their cause and 
agreed to accept the issue, desiring as they do to resume their 
places for the future in the Union, and to look to the arena 
of reason and justice for the protection of their rights in the 
Union — it would have been better to have allowed that result 
to take place, to follow under the policy adopted by the admin- 
istration, than to delay or hinder it by propositions to amend 
the Constitution in respect to suffrage. . . I think the people 
of all the southern States would in the halls of Congress dis- 
cuss these questions calmly and deliberately, and if they did 
not show that the views they entertained were just and proper, 
such as to control the judgment of the people of the other 
sections and States, they would quietly . . yield to whatever 
should be constitutionally determined in common council. . . 
They feel very sensitively the offer to them of propositions to 
accept while they are denied all voice . . in the discussion of 
these propositions. . . They feel very sensitively that they arc 
denied the right to be heard. 



236 Docinnentary History of Reconstruction 

The Fourteenth Amendment Rejected in Florida 

Annual Cyclopedia, 1866, p. 326. Report of a Committee of the legis- 
lature. [1866] 
As the representatives of the people of the State of Florida, 
we protest that we are willing to make any organic changes 
of a thoroughly general character, and which do not totally 
destroy the nature of the government. We are willing to do 
anything which a generous conqueror even should demand. . . 
On the other hand, we will bear any ill before we will pro- 
nounce our own dishonor. We will be taxed without repre- 
sentation ; we will quietly endure the government of the bay- 
onet; we will see and submit to the threatened fire and sword 
and destruction, but we will not bring, as a peace offering, the 
conclusive evidence of our own self-created degradation. 

Our present relations with the general government are cer- 
tainly of a strange character. Beyond the postal service, our 
people derive no benefit from our existence as a State in the 
Union. We are denied representation. . . We are at the 
same time subject to the most onerous taxation; the civil law 
of the State is enforced and obeyed only when it meets the 
approval of the local commander of the troops of the United 
States; the Congress of the United States enacts laws making 
certain lands subject to entry at a small cost by the colored 
portion of our population, and denies the like privilege to the 
white man. . . 

We are, in fact, recognized as a State for the single and sole 
purpose of working out our own destruction and dishonor. . . 
We are recognized as a State for the highest purposes known 
to the Constitution, namely, its amendment; but we are not 
recognized as a State for any of the benefits resulting from that 
relation. 

Arkansas Rejects the Fourteenth Amendment 

Annual Cyclopedia, 1866, p. 27. Resolution of the legislature. 

[December 10, 1866] 

I. It is not known, nor can it be, to the State of Arkansas, 
that the proposed amendment was ever acted upon by a Con- 



Reje ction of the Fourteenth Amendment 237 

gress of such a character as is provided for by the Constitu- 
tion, inasmuch as nearly one-third of the States were refused 
representation in the Congress which acted upon this amend- 
ment. 

2. This proposed amendment was never submitted to the 
President for his sanction, as it should have been, according 
to the very letter of that Constitution under which Congress 
exists. . . 

3. The great and enormous power sought to be conferred 
on Congress by the amendment, by giving to that body author- 
ity to enforce by appropriate legislation the provisions of the 
first article of said amendment, would, in effect, take from 
the States all control over their local and domestic concerns, 
and virtually abolish the States. 

4. The second section seems, to the committee, an effort 
to force negro suffrage upon the States; and whether intended 
or not, it leaves the power to bring this about, whether the 
States consent or not; and the committee are of the opinion 
that every State Legislature should shrink from ever permitting 
the possibility of such a calamity. 

5. The third section, as an act of disfranchisement which 
would embrace many of our best and wisest citizens, must, 
of necessity, be rejected by the people of Arkansas. 



The President Opposes the Fourteenth Amendment 

Trial of Andrew Johnson, vol. i, p. 271. The Alabama legislature 
after having rejected the Fourteenth Amendment was reconsidering 
it. The first telegram below was sent to the President from ^font- 
gomery by ex-Governor L. E. Parsons. The second telegram con- 
tains the reply which resulted in the defeat of the amendment. 

[January 17, 1867] 

[i]. Legislature in session. Efforts making to reconsider 
vote on constitutional amendments. Report from Washington 
says it is probable an enabling act will pass. We do not know 
what to believe. I find nothing here. 

[2]. What possible good can be obtained by reconsidering 
the constitutional amendment? I know of none in the present 
posture of affairs; and I do not believe the people of the whole 



238 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

country will sustain any set of individuals in attempts to change 
the whole character of our government by enabling acts or 
otherwise. I believe, on the contrary, that they will eventually 
uphold all who have patriotism and courage to stand by the 
Constitution, and who place their confidence in the people. 
There should be no faltering on the part of those who are 
honest in their determination to sustain the several coordinate 
departments of the government in accordance with its original 
design. 



A Southern Proposal for a Fourteenth Amendment 

Johnson M8S. After rejecting the amendment proposed by Con- 
gress there was a movement in the South to suggest a Fourteenth 
Amendment that would be acceptable to the whites. After corre- 
spondence between the states in 18C6-67, there was a meeting of 
Southern governors in Washington on February 4, 1867, which drew 
up drafts for the proposed amendment. One of these is given be- 
low. The Reconstruction Acts a month later put a stop to this 
movement. [1866-1867] 

Resolved, by the General Assembly of North Carolina, that 
with a view to compose our present political troubles, and 
effect a complete restoration of the State to her former [prac- 
ticaiy [constitutional]^ relations with the government of the 
United States, the following propositions be submitted to the 
[Congress of the United States],^ National Legislature, the 
State of North Carolina hereby pledging herself to their adop- 
tion, completely and unreservedly, upon an assurance that 
\^iipon her doing so~\ ^ [so soon as she shall have done so,] ^ 
Senators and Representatives [of acknowledged allegiance to 
the Federal Government and] ^ loyal to the Constitution of 
the United States shall be admitted to their seats by the re- 
spective Houses composing the Congress of the United States; 
and the State fully restored to all her [constitutional] ^ rela- 
tions as a member of the American Union. First, That the 
following article shall be adopted as an amendment to, and 
become a part of the Constitution of the State of North Caro- 
lina. 



1. Words erased in original. 

2. Words in pencil added by President Johnson. 

3. Changes in red ink in same writing as draft. 



Rejection of the Fourteenth Am endment 239 

Article — 

Every male citizen, who has resided In this State for one 
year, and in the county in which he offers to vote six months 
Immediately preceding the day of election, and who can read 
[the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the 
United States in the English language], ^ and write [his 
name], ^ or who may be the owner of two hundred and fifty 
dollars worth of taxable property shall be entitled to vote at 
all elections for Governor of the State, members of the Leg- 
islature and all other officers, the election of whom [shall be 
with'] 1 [may be by] ^ the people of the State:. Provided that 
no person [by reason of this article shall be excluded from 
voting] 2 who has heretofore exercised the [right of stifrage] ^ 
[elective franchise] ^ under the Constitution [and laws] ^ of 
this State, [shall be excluded therefrom by reason of this Ar- 
ticle'] 1 [or who at the time of the adoption of this amend- 
ment may be entitled to vote under said Constitution and 
laws.] ^ 

Secondly. That as a guarantee of the good faith with which 
she proposes to carry out in every particular the provisions 
of the foregoing proposed amendment to her own State Con- 
stitution, and to secure certain other desirable ends [the State 
of North Carolina will assent to and] " ratify the following 
amendment to the Constitution of the United States should 
[such amendment] ^ be proposed by Congress, [and recom- 
mends that the same be proposed to the Legislatures of the 
Several States by the Congress of the U. States.] ^ 

Article 14 

Section I. [The Union under the Constitntion shall be 
perpetual. No State shall pass any lazv or ordinance to secede 
or withdraw from the Union, and any such lazv or ordinance 
shall be null and void.] ^ [No State under the Constitution 
has a right of its own will to renounce its place in, or to with- 
draw from the Union. Nor has the Federal Government any 

1. Words erased In original. 

2. Words in pencil added by President Johnson. 

3. Changes in red ink in same writing as draft. 



240 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

right to eject a State from the Union, or to deprive it of its 
equal suffrage in the Senate, or of representation in the House 
of Representatives. The Union under the Constitution shall 
be perpetual.] ^ 

Section 2. The public debt of the United States authorized 
by law shall ever be held sacred and inviolate. But neither the 
United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt 
or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against 
the government or authority of the United States. 

Section 3. All persons born or naturalized in the United 
States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of 
the United States, and of the States in which they reside, and 
the Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all the privileges 
and immunities of citizens in the several States. No State shall 
deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due 
process of law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction 
the equal protection of the laws. 

Section 4. Representatives shall be apportioned among the 
several States according to their respective numbers, counting 
the whole number of persons in each State, excluding the 
Indians not taxed. But when any State shall, on account of 
race or color, or previous condition of servitude, [^deny the 
right to vote~\ ^ [deny the exercise of the elective franchise], ^ 
at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice 
President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, 
members of the Legislature, and other officers elective by the 
people, to any of the male Inhabitants of such State, being 
twenty-one years of age, and Citizens of the United States, 
then the entire \_race or color'\ ^ class of persons so excluded 
from the [exercise of the]"-^ elective franchise shall not be 
counted in the basis of representation. 

1. Words erased in original. 

2. Words in pencil added by President Johnson. 

3. Changes in red ink in same writing as draft. 



IV 
RACE AND LABOR PROBLEMS 
"BLACK CODES" 



16 



IV 

RACE AND LABOR PROBLEMS: 
"BLACK CODES" 



INTRODUCTION 

To fix the position of four million emancipated blacks in 
the social order was one of the most important problems 
that confronted the Southern state governments in 1865, 
not only because of the inherent difficulties of the prob- 
lem but because of the suspicious attitude of the victorious 
North, especially the radical politicians and the former 
abolitionists, toward the South in all things that con- 
cerned the negro. 

Some kind of legislation for the freedmen was neces- 
sary in 1865-1866. The slave codes were obsolete; the 
few laws for the free negroes were not applicable to the 
present conditions; most laws and codes then in force 
were made expressly for whites. The task of the law 
makers was to express in the law the transition of the 
negroes from slavery to citizenship ; to regulate family 
life, morals and conduct; to give the ex-slave the right to 
hold property, the right to personal protection, and the 
right to testify in courts; to provide for the aged and 
helpless and the orphans; to force the blacks to settle 
down, have homes, engage in some kind of work, and ful- 
fill contracts; to provide for negro education which for- 
merly had been forbidden; to prevent the exploitation of 
the ignorant blacks by unscrupulous persons, and to pro- 
tect the whites in person and property from lawless blacks. 
In general the laws relating to whites were extended to 
the blacks, sometimes with slight modifications. But one 
principle was never lost sight of, viz., that the races were 

243 



244 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

unlike and unequal and should be kept separate. It was 
believed that in some matters laws should not be uniform 
for the two races. The laws making distinction of race 
are the ones usually called the "Black Laws" or the 
"Black Code." The sources of these laws are found in 
the ante-bellum laws for free negroes, in the Northern 
and Southern vagrancy laws, in the freedmen's codes of 
the West Indies, in the Roman law on freedmen, in pure 
theory to some extent, and to a great degree in the reg- 
ulations for blacks made by the United States army and 
Treasury officials in 1862-1865, and in the Freedmen's 
Bureau rules. Theoretically the control of the blacks by 
the army, the Treasury Department, and the Bureau was 
almost absolute and if carried out would have transferred 
the control of the slave from the master to the United 
States government. The laws passed by the states were 
much the same but from a different point of view. 

From the Southern point of view these laws in no way 
limited any rights of the blacks. They were simply an 
extension of rights not before possessed. The slave codes 
were superseded by white men's laws. Some of the laws 
bore more heavily on whites, others on blacks. This was 
true especially of the laws relating to standing in court — 
where the black had the advantage of the white. Most of 
the laws usually called "Black Lav^s" make no distinction 
of races. As a rule the states that acted first in 1865 
made the wider distinction between the races. The laws 
of 1866 bestow more privileges than those of 1865. This 
legislation was severely criticised by the Northern poli- 
ticians and served as a convenient issue in the campaign 
of 1866. The criticisms were generally to the effect that 
the laws were meant to re-enslave the blacks. It is note- 
worthy that President Johnson did not at all appreciate 
the importance of this problem of negro legislation. He 
seemed to think that the destruction of slavery left noth- 



Introduction 24 c 

ing else to be done. The legislatures that passed these 
laws were composed mainly of men of little experience, 
non-slaveholders, who had been Unionists or luke-warm 
Confederates. This fact will account for much of the 
crudeness of the early legislation. The laws would have 
been more liberal, but the general principles would 
have been the same had the legislatures been composed 
of the experienced popular leaders who were then dis- 
franchised. The laws were never in force in any of 
the states; the Freedmen's Bureau suspended them until 
1868, when the reconstructed governments repealed them. 
Since the downfall of the Reconstruction regime, the 
essential parts of this legislation have been re-enacted in 
the Southern states, especially the laws relating to defini- 
tion of race, to the separation of the races in schools and 
in public conveyances, and to the prohibition of inter- 
marriage of the races. The labor, contract, and vagrancy 
laws are about the sam^e, though now applying to both 
races. 



REFERENCES 

Race Peoblems: Burgess, Reconstruction and the Constitution, p. 45; 
iCliadse}% President Jo7i7ison and Congress, p. 47; Fleming, Civil War and 
Reconstruction in Alabama, pp. 269, 383, 410, 444; Garner, Reconstruc- 
tion in Mississippi, p. 109; Rhodes, History of the United States, vol. 
V, p. 556; "Wallace, Carpet Bag Rule in Florida, eh. 3. 

Labor Situation: Burgess, p. 45; Fleming, p. 710; Garner, p. 133; Herbert, 
The Solid South, pp. 16, 30; Rhodes, vol. v, p. 558; Wallace, p. 28. 

Black Codes: Bancroft, Negro in Politics, p. 8; Blaine, Twenty Years of 
Congress, vol. ii, p. 93; Burgess, p. 46; Chadsey, p. 43; Cox, Three Decades, 
ch. 25; Fleming, p. 378; Garner, p. 113; Herbert, pp. 31, 190, 238'; Hollis, 
Early Reconstruction Period in South Carolina, p. 48; Reynolds, Recon- 
struction in South Carolina, p. 27; Rhodes, vol. v, p. 558; Wallace, p. 
35; Woolley, Reconstruction in Georgia, p. 18. 



246 



I. DISCUSSION OF RACE AND LABOR PROBLEMS 
C. G. Memminger on Race and Labor Problems 

Johnson MSB. C. G. Memminger, Flat Rock, South Carolina to 
President Johnson. Memminger was Confederate Secretary of 'the 
Treasury. [September 4, 1865] 

I TAKE it for granted that this whole Southern Country accepts 
emancipation from Slavery as the condition of the African race; 
but neither the North nor the South have yet defined what is 
included in that emancipation. The boundaries are widely 
apart which mark on the one side, political equality with the 
white races, and on the other, a simple recognition of personal 
liberty. With our own race, ages have intervened between 
the advance from one of these boundaries to the other. No 
other people have been able to make equal progress, and many 
have not yet lost sight of the original point of starting. Great 
Britain has made the nearest approach; Russia has just started; 
and the other nations of Europe, after ages of struggle, are 
yet on the way from the one point to the other, none of them 
having yet advanced even to the position attained by England. 
The question now pending is, as to the station in this wide inter- 
val which shall be assigned to the African race. Does that race 
possess qualities, or does it exhibit any peculiar fitness which 
will dispense with the training which our own race has under- 
gone, and authorize us at once to advance them to equal rights? 
It seems to me that this point has been decided already by the 
laws of the free States. None of them have yet permitted 
equality, and the greater part assert this unfitness of the African 
by denying him any participation in political power. 

The Country then seems prepared to assign to this race an 
inferior condition; but the precise nature of that condition is 
yet to be defined, and also the Government which shall regulate 
it. I observe that you have already decided . . that the ad- 
justment of the right of suffrage belongs to the State Govern- 
ments, and should be left there. But this, as well as most of 
the other questions on this subject, rests upon the decision which 
shall be made upon the mode of organizing the labor of the 

247 



248 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

African race. The Northern people seem generally to suppose 
that the simple emancipation from slavery will elevate the Afri- 
can to the condition of the white laboring classes; and that con- 
tracts and competition will secure the proper distribution of 
labor. They see, on the one hand, the owner of land, wanting 
laborers, and on the other, a multitude of landless laborers 
without employment; and they naturally conclude that the law 
of demand and supply will adjust the exchange in the same 
manner as it would do at the North. But they are not aware 
of the attending circumstances which will disappoint these cal- 
culations. 

The laborer in the Southern States . . occupies the houses 
of his employer, built upon plantations widely separate. The 
employment of a laborer involves the employment and sup- 
port of his whole family. Should the employer be discontented 
with any laborers and desire to substitute others in their place, 
before he can effect that object, he must proceed to turn out the 
first with their entire families into the woods, so as to have 
houses for their successors. Then he must encounter the un- 
certainty and delay in procuring other laborers; and also the 
hostility of the laborers on his own plantation, which would 
probably exhibit itself in sympathy with the ejected families 
and combinations against himself. Should this occur at any 
critical period of the crop, its entire loss would ensue. Nor 
would his prospect of relief from other plantations be hopeful. 
On them arrangements will have been made for the year, and 
the abstraction of laborers from them would result in new dis- 
organization. The employer would thus be wholly at the 
mercy of the laborer. 

It may be asked why the laborer is more likely to fail in the 
performance of his contract than his employer. The reasons 
are obvious. The employer by the possession of property 
affords a guarantee by which the law can compel his perform- 
ance. The laborer can offer no such guarantee, and nothing is 
left to control him but a sense of the obligation of the contract. 

The force of this remedy depends upon the degree of con- 
scientiousness and intelligence attained by the bulk of a people. 



Discussion of Race and Labor Problems 249 



It Is well known that one of the latest and most important fruits 
of civilization Is a perception of the obligation of contracts. . 
It would be vain, under any circumstances, to count upon such 
performance from an ignorant and uneducated population. But 
where that population is from constitution or habit peculiarly 
subject to the vices of an inferior race, nothing short of years 
of education and training can bring about that state of moral 
rectitude and habitual self constraint which would secure the 
regular performance of contracts. In the present case, to these 
general causes must be added the natural indolence of the 
African race, and the belief now universal among them that 
they are released from any obligation to labor. Under these 
circumstances the employer would have so little inducement to 
risk his capital in the hands of the laborer, or to advance money 
for food and working animals in cultivating a crop which, 
when reaped, would be at the mercy of the laborers, that he 
will certainly endeavor to make other arrangements. The 
effect will be the abandonment of the negro to his Indolent 
habits, and the probable relapse of large portions of the country 
into Its original forest condition. The two races, instead of 
exchanging mutual good offices, will inflict mutual evil on each 
other; and the final result must be the destruction or removal 
of the Inferior race. 

The appropriate remedy for these evils evidently points to 
the necessity of training the inferior race; and we are naturally 
led to look to the means which would be employed by our own 
race for the same purpose. The African is virtually in con- 
dition of the youth, whose inexperience and want of skill unfit 
him for the privileges of manhood. He is subjected to the 
guidance and control of one better informed. He is bound as 
an apprentice to be trained and directed; and Is under restraint 
until he is capable of discharging the duties of manhood. 

Such, it seems to me, is the proper instrumentality which 
should now be applied to the African race. The vast body are 
substantially In a state of minority. They have been all their 
lives subject to the control and direction of another; and at 
present are wholly incapable of self-government. Alongside of 



250 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

them are their former masters, fully capable of guiding and 
instructing them, needing their labor, and not yet alienated 
from them in feeling. The great point to be obtained is the 
generous application by the one of his superior skill and re- 
sources, and their kindly reception by the other. This can be 
effected only by some relation of acknowledged dependence. 
Let the untrained and incapable African be placed under in- 
dentures of apprenticeship to his former master, under such 
regulations as will secure both parties from wrong; and Avhen- 
ever the apprentice shall have obtained the habits and knowl- 
edge requisite for discharging the duties of a citizen, let him 
then be advanced from youth to manhood and be placed in the 
exercise of a citizen's rights, and the enjoyment of the privileges 
attending such a change. . . 

The Laws passed by the British Parliament on this subject, 
for the West India Colonies . . are founded upon this Idea of 
apprenticeship. Such an adjustment of the relations of the 
two races would overcome many difficulties, and enable the 
emancipation experiment to be made under the most favorable 
circumstances. The experience of the British colonies would 
afford valuable means for improving the original plans; and no 
doubt the practical common sense of our people can, by amend- 
ing their errors, devise the best possible solution of the prob- 
lems, and afford the largest amount of good to the African race. 

The only question which would remain would be as to the 
Government which should enact and administer these laws. 
Unquestionably the jurisdiction under the Constitution of the 
United States belongs to the States. This fact will most 
probably disincline the Congress to an early recognition of the 
Southern States upon their original footing under the Consti- 
tution, from the apprehension of harsh measures towards the 
former slaves. The difficulty would be obviated, if a satis- 
factory adjustment could be previously made of the footing 
upon which the two races are to stand. If by general agree- 
ment an apprentice system could be adopted In some form which 
would be satisfactory as well as obligatory, It seems to me that 
most of the evils now existing, or soon to arise, would be remc- 



Discussion of Race and Labor Problems 



251 



died; and that a fair start would be made in the proper direc- 
tion. The details of the plan could be adjusted from the exper- 
ience of the British Colonies; and if it should result in proving 
the capacity of the African race to stand upon the same plat- 
form with the white man, I doubt not but that the South will 
receive that conclusion with satisfaction fully equal to that of 
any other section. 



The Negro Problem in Mississippi 

Report of Joint Committee on Reconstruction, part iii, p. 182 Mes- 
sage of Gov. B. G. Humphreys to the legislature. 

[November 20, IST&S] 
By the sudden emancipation of over three hundred thousand 
slaves, Mississippi has imposed upon her a problem of vast 
magnitude, upon the proper solution of which depends the hopes 
and future prosperity and welfare of ourselves and of our 
children. 

Under the pressure of federal bayonets, urged on by the 
misdirected sympathies of the zvorld in behalf of the enslaved 
African, the people of Mississippi have abolished the insti- 
tution of slavery, and have solemnly declared In their State 
constitution that "the legislature should provide by law for 
the protection and security of person and property of the 
freedmen of the State, and guard them and the State against 
any evils that may arise from the sudden emancipation." . . 
We must now meet the question as it Is, and not as we would 
like to have it. The rule must be justice. The negro Is free, 
whether we like it or not; we must realize that fact now and 
forever. To be free, however, does not make him a citizen, 
or entitle him to social or political equality zvith the zvhite man. 
But the constitution and justice do entitle him to protection 
and security in his person and property. . . 

In my humble judgment, no person, bond or free, under any 
form of government, can be assured of protection or security 
in either person or property, except through an Independent 
and enlightened judiciary. The courts, then, should be open 
to the negro. But of what avail is it to open the courts, and 



252 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

invite the negro to "sue and be sued," if he is not permitted to 
testify himself, and introduce such testimony as he or his 
attorney may deem, essential to establish the truth and justice 
of his case? . . 

As a measure of domestic policy, whether for the protection 
of the person or the property of the freedm^an, or for the pro- 
tection of society, the negro should be allowed and required to 
testify for or against the white and black. . . There are few 
men living in the south who have not known many white crim- 
inals to go "unwhipped of justice" because negro testimony 
was not permitted in the courts. And now that the negro is 
no longer under the restraints and protection of his master, he 
will become the dupe and the "cat's paw" of the vile and the 
vicious white man who seeks his association, and will plunder 
our lands with entire security from punishment, unless he can 
be reached through negro testimony. It is an insult to the in- 
telligence and virtue of our courts, and juries of white men, to 
say or suspect that they can not or will not protect the innocent, 
whether white or black, against . . any perjury of black 
witnesses. 

The question of admitting negro testimony for the pro- 
tection of their person and property sinks into insignificance by 
the side of the other great question of guarding them and the 
State against the evils that may arise from their sudden eman- 
cipation. What are the evils that have already arisen, against 
which we are to guard the negro and the State? The answer 
Is patent to all — vagrancy and pauperism, and their inevitable 
concomitants, crime and misery, hang like a dark pall over a 
once prosperous and happy, but now desolate land. 

To the guardian care of the Freedmen's Bureau has been 
entrusted the emancipated slaves. The civil law and the man 
outside of the Bureau have been deprived of all jurisdiction 
over them. . . Idleness and vagrancy have been the result. 
Our rich and productive fields have been deserted for the filthy 
garrets and sickly cellars of our towns and cities. From pro- 
ducers they are converted into consumers, and, as winter 
approaches, their only salvation from starvation and want is 



Discussion of Race and Labor Problems 



253 



federal rations, plunder and pillage. Four years of cruel war 
conducted on principles of vandalism disgraceful to the civil- 
ization of the age, were scarcely more blighting and destructive 
on the homes of the white man^ and impoverishing, degrading 
to the negro, than has residted in the last six or eight months 
from the administration of this black incubus. Many of the 
officers connected with that bureau are gentlemen of honor and 
Integrity, but they seem incapable of protecting the rights and 
property of the white man against the villanies of the vile and 
villanous with zvhom they are associated. 

How long this hideous curse, permitted of Heaven, is to be 
allowed to rule and ruin our unhappy people, I regret It Is not 
In my power to give any assurance, further than can be gathered 
from the public and private declarations of President Johnson, 
that "the troops will all be withdrawn from Mississippi, when, 
In the opinion of the government, the peace and order and 
civil authority has been restored, and can be maintained with- 
out them." In this uncertainty as to what will satisfy the 
government of our loyalty and ability to maintain order and 
peace and qavW government y^ur duty under the Constitution to 
guard the negro and the State from the evils arising from 
sudden emancipation must not be neglected. Our duty to the 
State, and to the freedmen, seems to me to be clear, and I re- 
spectfully recom.mend — 1st. That negro testimony should 
be admitted In our courts, not only for the protection of person 
and property of freedmen, but for the protection of society 
against the crimes of both races. 2d. That the freedmen be 
encouraged at once to engage In some pursuit of Industry for 
the support of his family and the education of his children, by 
laws assuring him of friendship and protection. Tax the freed- 
men for the support of the Indigent and helpless freedmen, and 
then with an iron will and the strong hand of power take hold 
of the idler and the vagrant and force him to some profitable 
employment. 3d. Pass a militia law that will enable the 
militia to protect our people against the Insurrection, or any 
possible combination of vicious white men and negroes. 



254 Dociunentary History of Rcconstruciion 
Reasons for Admitting Negro Testimony 

John Wallace, Carpet Bag Rule in Florida, p. 13. Message of Gov. 
William M. Marvin to the Convention of Florida. [October 25, 186&] 

Heretofore, the negro In a condition of slavery, was to a 
large extent under the power and protection of his master, who 
felt an interest in his welfare, not only because he was a de- 
pendent . . but because he was his property. Now he has no 
such protection, and unless he finds protection in the courts of 
justice he becomes the victim of every wicked, depraved and 
bad man, whose avarice may prompt him to refuse the pay- 
ment of his just wages, and whose angry and revengeful pas- 
sions may excite him to abuse and maltreat the helpless being 
placed by his freedom beyond the pale of protection of any 
kind. Much sensitiveness is felt in this and other Southern 
States upon the subject of the admissibility of negro testimony 
in courts of justice for or against white persons. . . Now that 
the negro is free, I do not feel any such sensitiveness. I do not 
perceive the philosophy or expediency of any rule of evidence 
which shuts out the truth from the hearing of the jury. It may 
be said that the intention of the rule is to shut out falsehood; 
but how can it be known to the jury whether the testimony be 
true or false until they have heard it and compared it with the 
other testimony in the case? The admission of negro testi- 
mony should not be regarded as a privilege granted to the 
negro, but as the right of the State, in all criminal prosecutions, 
to have his testimony . . to assist to establish the guilt of the 
accused, and it ought, reciprocally, to be the right of the ac- 
cused to have such testimony to establish his innocence. But 
the question of the admissibility of negro testimony is merely in- 
cidental to the main subject, which is the duty of the State to 
protect the negro in the exercise and enjoyment of his rights 
of freedom. . .If the colored race in this country can be 
fully and fairly protected in the exercise and enjoyment of their 
newly acquired rights of freedom, then, in my judgment, they 
will be a quiet and contented people, unambitious of any politi- 
cal privileges, or of any participation in the affairs of the 
government. Protected in their persons and property, they 



Discussion of Race and Labor Problems 2CC 

may be stimulated to be industrious and economical by a desire 
to acquire property in order to educate themselves and their 
children, and improve their physical, moral and intellectual con- 
dition. . .We may reasonably hope and believe that they will 
progress and improve in intelligence and civilization, and 
become . . the best free agricultural peasantry, for our soil 
and climate, that the world has ever seen. 



Labor Problems in Florida 

Report of Joint Committee on Reconstruction, part iv, p. 12. Ad- 
dress of outgoing Governor Marvin. [Decemljer 20, 1865] 

It appears to me that, by wise legislation and a just and im- 
partial administration and enforcement of the laws which shall 
protect and secure all persons alike, without distinction of 
color, in all their just rights of person and property, and which 
shall give an easy and cheap remedy to the laborer for the col- 
lection of his wages, much may be done toward restoring con- 
fidence and kind feelings between the emplover and the em- 
ployed, and encouraging the industry of the country. Let the 
laborer be protected against impositions upon his ignorance in 
making his contract, so that he shall fully understand it, and 
let him feel fully assured that he has an easy and cheap remedy 
in the courts of law for the recovery of his wages if they should 
be unjustly withheld from him, and many white and colored 
persons will be inclined to enter into contracts to labor, who 
would not otherwise do so. It is all-important to the successful 
cultivation of corn and cotton that the planter should be able 
to rely at all times upon having a sufficient number of hands in 
his service to make and gather the crop. . . He must hire his 
laborers by the year, and it seems to me that in the present con- 
dition of the laboring force of this country, it is all-important to 
the interest of the country that he should have some security 
that the laborer will not leave his employment at a time when 
his services are most needed. The ordinary remedies known 
to the common law for the non performance of a contract to 
labor afford him no security, for the laborer, as a general thing, 
has no goods or chattels, lands or tenements, to levy upon under 



256 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

an execution. . . What that remedy ought to be may tax the 
ingenuity of the legislature to devise, and perhaps it will only 
be learned by experience; but it appears to me that it would be 
wise for the legislature to provide, by law, that where the 
laborer has entered into a contract in writing before the judge 
of probate or a justice of the peace, to labor on a plantation for 
one year for wages or for a part of the crop, and the contract 
specifies the wages to be paid and the food to be given; that if 
the laborer abandons the service of his employer, or is absent 
therefrom two days without the leave of his employer, or 
fails without just cause in other important particulars to per- 
form his part of the contract, that then he may be arrested by 
the proper tribunal, and, if found guilty on a hearing of the 
case, be sentenced to labor during the unexpired term, without 
pay, upon the highways, in a governmnent workshop, or upon 
a government plantation. . . 

Much may be done, too, to stimulate the industry of the 
country and protect it against pauperism, by passing wise laws 
upon the subject of vagrants and providing for their employ- 
ment. . . 

The old and infirm, who are destitute and incapable of sup- 
porting themselves by labor, ought to be supported at the public 
expense. It would be inhuman and anti-Christian to leave 
them to perish, so long as we have the ability to prevent it. 
"The poor ye have with you always," said our Saviour. They 
are his gift or legacy to us, for the trial of our faith and charity. 
Let us accept the gift with grateful hearts, and do what we can 
for their support and comfort. 

There are many children in this State, white and black, who 
are deprived of their parents, one or both, or whose parents 
are incapable of supporting or educating them as they ought to 
be. These should be apprenticed until they are twenty-one 
years of age. The law on this subject ought to be carefully 
guarded, so as to protect the apprentice against injustice or 
oppression. It ought to provide that the apprentice should be 
produced, if living, at least once a year before the tribunal that 
binds him out, which should be authorized to revoke the articles 



Discussion of Race and Labor Problems 



257 

of apprenticeship on account of any gross injustice or oppression 
of the master. 



The Duty of the Whites to the Negroes 

Report of Joint Committee on Reconstruction, part iv p 16 In- 
augural address of Gov. D. S. Walker of Florida. {December 20, 1865] 

I THINK we are bound by every consideration of duty, grati- 
tude, and interest, to make these people as enlightened, pros- 
perous, and happy as their new situation will admit. . . They 
have been attached to our persons and our fortunes, sharing 
with us all our feelings — rejoicing with us in our prosperity, 
mourning with us in our adversity. . . Not only in peace, but 
in war, they have been faithful to us. . . Our females and in- 
fant children [were left] almost exclusively to the protection 
of our slaves. They proved true to their trust. Not one 
instance of insult, outrage, or indignity has ever come to my 
knowledge. They remained at home and made provisions for 
our army. Many of them went with our sons to the army, 
and there, too, proved their fidelity, attending them when well, 
nursing them and caring for them when sick and wounded. 
We all know that many of them were willing, and some of 
them anxious, to take up arms in our cause. Although for 
several years within sound of the guns of the vessels of the 
United States for six hundred miles along our seaboard, yet 
scarcely one in a thousand left our . . service to take shelter 
and freedom under the flag of the Union. It is not their 
fault they are free; they had nothing to do with it; that was 
brought about by "the results and operations of the war." 

But they are free. They are no longer our contented and 
happy slaves, with an abundant supply of food and clothing 
for themselves and families, and the intelligence of a superior 
race to look ahead and make all necessary arrangements for 
their com.fort. They are now a discontented and unhappy 
people, many of them houseless and homeless, roaming about 
in gangs over the land, not knowing one day where the supplies 
for the next are to come from ; exposed to the ravages of disease 
and famine; exposed to the temptations of theft and robbery . . 



258 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

without the intelligence to provide for themselves when sick, 
and doomed to untold sufferings and ultimate extinction unless 
we intervene for their protection and preservation. . . 

Much has been said of late about the importance of white 
labor from Germany, Ireland, Italy, and other countries, and 
with proper limitations and restrictions I am in favor of It; but 
let us always remember that we have a laboring class of our 
own, which Is entitled to the preference. It is not sufficient 
to say that white labor is cheaper. I trust we are not yet so 
far degraded as to consult interest alone. But interest alone 
would dictate that it is better to give these people employment, 
and enable them to support themselves, than to have them 
remain upon our hands as a pauper race; for here they are, 
and here . . they are obliged to stay. We must remember 
that these black people are natives of this country, and have a 
pre-emption right to be the recipients of whatever favors we 
may have to bestow. We must protect them. If not against the 
competition, at any rate against the exactions of white Immi- 
grants. They will expect our black laborers to do as much 
work in this climate as they have been accustomed to see white 
ones perform in more northern latitudes. We know that they 
cannot do it. They never did it for us as slaves, and the 
experience of the last six months shows that they will do no 
better as freedmen. . . But I fear those who may migrate 
hither from Europe or elsewhere will be unmindful of this fact. 
We ought not to forget it, and between foreign and black labor 
we ought always to give the preference to the latter when we 
can possibly make It available. And If we can offer sufficient 
inducements, I am inclined to think that the black man, as a 
field laborer, in our climate, will prove more efficient than the 
Imported white. 

We ought to encourage our colored people to virtue and 
industry by all means in our power. We ought to protect 
them in all their rights, both of person and property, as fully 
as we do the whites. 



Discussion of Race and Labor Problems 



259 



Negro Testimony in North Carolina 



Senate Ex. Doc. no. 26, ,19 Cong.. J Sess., p. 52. Report of a com- 
mittee of the North Carolina legislature. [January 22, 18G61 

The committee are aware that the great and radical changes 
occasioned by emancipation, in the fixed habits and customs of 
the people, cannot be truly estimated at once, and therefore they 
forbear . . to speculate by legislative anticipation, for such 
changes as may even probably become necessary in the course 
of time. . . They prefer to let the common law apply its flexi- 
ble rules for human conduct to the new state of things, rather 
than frame for it rigid and perhaps misconceived legislation. 

The general assembly will perceive that we have omitted all 
such punishments as the involuntary hiring out of persons of 
color, and also of whipping them, except In cases where white 
persons are thus punished. 

There are comparatively few of the slaves lately freed who 
are honest; but this vice now so prevalent among them may be 
traced to other and more probable causes than any natural 
depravity peculiar to the negro race, which, by some physiol- 
ogists, are declared to be naturally destitute of moral principles 
in a greater degree than any other people yet known. The 
committee have not regulated their code by this doctrine. And 
if it were true, there is the greatest necessity for correcting the 
natural obliquity by proper civil institutions wisely administered. 
That the race Is not beyond the reach of a proper moral train- 
ing, is evident from the many examples among them of sobriety, 
industry, and honesty. If It owed Its depravity to the vicious 
nature peculiar to the race, we ought to be able by this time to 
trace some steps of Improvement In the mixture of its blood 
with that of other races of men. The committee have not dis- 
covered, nor has It been maintained, that the mixed-blooded 
slave has been elevated in the moral virtue of the white race as 
he advanced toward It In color. . . 

We recommend that the courts should be fully opened to the 
negro race, for protection and property, and all the rights of 
freedmen, by being heard as witnesses whenever these rights 
are In controversy. The enactment recommended allows their 



260 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

evidence in civil cases only where the rights of person or prop- 
erty of persons of color would be precluded by the judg-ment or 
decrees made in those cases. And in criminal cases, only 
where violence, fraud, or injury charged to have been done by 
or on them is put directly in issue. 

If the testimony is to be admitted, at all, it ought to be 
extended to such cases. The effect of thus limiting it will not 
deny them any advantages, but, on the contrary, will secure to 
them the most perfect protection that human evidence can 
afford. . . The result of allowing it to this extent will be, that 
when colored persons are parties they may call to the witness 
stand the whole population of the land not rendered incom- 
petent by want of understanding, interest, or religious unbelief; 
while in cases where white persons are parties, white persons 
only will be competent witnesses. 

The committee will proceed to give some of the reasons 
which have induced them to recommend the reception of the 
evidence of negroes. . . 

First. The present helpless and unprotected condition of the 
race demands it. 

Their condition of personal security is greatly changed. 
Prior to emancipation they were grouped on farms which they 
seldom left, and were overlooked by their masters or overseers, 
surrounded by families of white children. 

They were not only watched by the whites to preserve the 
discipline necessary for servitude, and to prevent spoliations, 
but were cared for and protected as property. It was the 
slave-holder's interest to prevent, and, when committed to 
punish, any injuries done to the persons of their slaves. The 
interest of one slaveholder was the interest of all ; so that their 
security was guaranteed by the common interest of the wealth- 
iest and most powerful men in the country, and, of course, of 
all their kindred and adherents, among whom, generally, were 
their poorer white neighbors. Thus the person of the slave 
(without reckoning the feelings of humanity which have gen- 
erally characterized the slaveholders of this State) became the 
subject of general protection by every class of white men, and 



Discp.ssio?! of Race an d Labor Problems 261 

any outrages on his person a general cause for common vindlca- 
tion. With this shield of security, the white aggressor Avas 
checked in his violence; and if not, his detection was almost 
sure. ^ These sources of personal security are all removed by 
emancipation, and, without capacity to bear evidence, he stands 
in numerous cases utterly defenceless, except by opposing force 
to force against every species of outrage offered to himself or to 
his family. . . If he should submit to the violence, and suffer 
the most grievous wrongs, there Is no one who can be heard in 
his behalf; and he could expect, from his submission, nothing 
less than a repetition of his unredressed wrongs. If he should 
oppose force to force In the justest cause, whatever might be 
the result, his mouth and the mouths of all colored witnesses 
would be closed. . . 

Breaches of the peace always decrease In proportion to the 
facility and Impartiality with which the violator is brought to 
justice. Citizens will not readily avenge themselves when the 
sword of the law Is at hand to do It for them; but when the 
law is powerless, from whatever cause, the hand of private vio- 
lence will be sure to come to the aid of self-defence. It is, 
therefore, clear that by protecting the person of the negro, we 
shall most certainly protect the person of the white man. If 
the former may be outraged . . with Impunity, because he may 
be Incompetent to testify to the wrong, he will turn from the 
door of the court-house and seek his redress elsewhere. . . 

Secondly. The admission of such evidence is necessary to 
secure the colored people in their rights of property. 

While in slavery they had no property. What was set apart 
for their use belonged to their master, and was under his pro- 
tection. In their new state they enter on the broad ground of 
citizenship, and become actors in all the departments of social 
life. They are allowed to trade with the white man In every 
article of property; to possess and cultivate lands, and, by all 
wise means, should be encouraged to habits of industry and a 
desire for honest acquisition. 

The protection of a man's honest gains should ever be, after 
the protection of his person, the next great policy of a wise 



262 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

Commonwealth. If the property which a negro shall own, 
his cattle, his money, may all be carried off, yea, his very house 
robbed of its furniture, and his person of his valuables, by 
abandoned white men, and he shall be unable to bring the rob- 
bers to justice because the witnesses are colored, can the race 
feel any ardent disposition to labor for themselves? On the 
contrary, will they not feel doubly tempted by such want of 
security for their own property to become depredators them- 
selves, especially when they reflect that it is the white man's 
policy which thus exposes them to licentious white men? But, 
besides such glaring cases of public wrongs which would go 
unredressed by excluding their evidence, there are many of a 
more private nature which depraved white men would per- 
petrate on them or procure to be done by their negro associates 
as their instruments. Already the wicked white man and cor- 
rupt dependent negro have banded together in lawless thefts 
and frauds on industrious and peaceful citizens, both white and 
black; and the white associate, If negro evidence shall be exclud- 
ed, will stand secure In his vlllany behind his colored friend. 

The calamity to public virtue and private rights would be 
incalculable If those who were injured could not testify against 
the perpetrator of the crime. How shocked would every citi- 
zen of North Carolina feel if the legislature should enact that 
no person assaulted and beaten, no one whose property was 
stolen, no one robbed, no one ravished, should bear evidence 
to the crime? The exclusion of negro evidence places that 
race in just such a condition. . . 

The protection of persons and property Imperiously demands 
that the evidence of colored persons be admitted for that pur- 
pose, unless it should be excluded upon some ground of public 
policy still higher than such as favors its introduction. We 
have heard of but one that is plausible, and that is the general 
falsity of such evidence. No one pretends that it is universally 
false. It is urged, however, that, for the greater part, the 
evidence is not reliable, and, if universally believed, would 
produce far more wrong than right. 

We are fully aware of a lamentable prevalence of this vice 



Discussion of Race and Labor Problems 263 

among the race. It is a natural offspring of their recent slavery 
and degradation. Forced to an involuntary- servitude, and 
required to do many things against their will, without any ap- 
parent profit to themselves, it was natural for them to disobey 
if they found temporary ease in disobedience; and to avoid 
correction, it was equally natural for them to endeavor to escape 
it by falsehood. . . If the more veracious persons only were 
competent witnesses, there would be many cases of the highest 
interest to the public without a single witness. Such a rule, 
however, has never marked the policy of justice in its investiga- 
tion of facts. . . 

In a by-gone age the rules of evidence with us were framed 
rather to exclude falsehood than to admit truth; but even when 
these rules were administered in this spirit all persons above 
seven years old, of sufficient understanding, not religiously in- 
sensible to the obligation of an oath, nor parties directly inter- 
ested in the cause, were competent witnesses, unless they had 
been rendered infamous by conviction of some infamous crime. 
. . These were English rules of the common law; and so long 
as they prevailed there was no nation on the earth whose inhab- 
itants were excluded as witnesses from English courts, it mat- 
tered not what their color, crime, or religion. It is probable 
that at a very early period after the introduction of African 
slavery into this State the slave was forbidden to testify against 
a white person, and it is probable also that the exclusion was 
soon extended to free persons of color. Slaves were not al- 
lowed to bear testimony against free persons of color until 1821. 

The policy of excluding such testimony was founded on two 
considerations : First, the entire and absolute dependence of a 
slave on his master . . which rendered him unfit to bear witness 
for or against his master, or for or against any person to whom 
his master extended his favor or dislike. Besides this, the 
settled policy was to humble the slave and extinguish in him 
the pride of Independence. This latter policy was extended 
in 1 82 1 to the free negro, who, it was alleged, was greatly 
corrupting the slave by claiming superior privileges over him. 



264 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

Emancipation having destroyed the distinction all legislation 
concerning the colored race must be the same. 

The rules regulating the admissibility of the evidence of 
white persons, with a few exceptions, remain with us as they 
were a century since. But all at once the slave has disappeared, 
and upward of 300,000 free persons of color are added to the 
population; these . . constitute one-third of our entire people. 
. . If it ever was, it is certainly not now our policy to degrade 
them. On the contrary, our true policy Is to elevate them In 
every way consistent with the safety and good government of 
the community. They must be educated out of their ignorance, 
and reformed out of their vicious habits. 

If the admission of their evidence will not seriously endanger 
the administration of our laws, our manifest policy is to allow 
It; for nothing, in our opinion, tends more to Inculcate a regard 
for truth than the almost unavoidable detection of falsehood, 
which occurs in judicial Investigations before a jury, where the 
parties and witnesses are known, and their manner and conduct 
are scrutinized in the ordeal of trial. 

If it be true that either the negro race or the negro In our 
midst, civilized as he is beyond his native condition, be so 
mendacious that he cannot be safely heard in our court of 
justice, it seems to us that it is one of your highest duties to 
exclude them as witnesses in all cases whatsoever, as well In 
those in which they are the sole parties as those wherein one of 
the parties is a white man, and, above all things, not to allow 
persons of color to be convicted of capital felonies and deprived 
of life on such unreliable evidence. If to this suggestion it may 
be truly replied that he can be trusted when his own color is on 
trial, then It follows that he yet loves truth better than false- 
hood, unless he Is seduced by his prejudice against the white 
man. Now, if this be so, this general characteristic of the race 
will soon develop itself, and thenceforth receive Its just estimate 
at the hands of a white judge and a white jury. It Is just to 
truth, however, for us to admit that neither during the won- 
derful and enduring conflict of arms, popularly announced In 
their very midst to be In behalf of their freedom, they did not 



Discussion of Race an d Labor Problems 265 

exhibit, nor since its termination have they exhibited, any de- 
cided marks of prejudice against their late masters. 

It must be conceded by the opponents of such evidence that 
if strong prejudices be sufficient to exclude the testimony of 
witnesses, all experience teaches that public prosecutors, near 
kindred, and personal enemies, ought to be set aside as incom- 
petent; and. If general corruption be also sufficient cause for 
exclusion, the man whose character for truth on oath is proved 
by all his acquaintances to be bad, ought no more to be heard 
In the ascertainment of facts than a negro. Yet in these cases 
the witness is heard, subject to so many "grains of allowance" 
on account of his established and admitted Infirmity as a jury 
may judge to be the proper measure. It is settled by our highest 
judicial tribunal that the testimony of a witness who commits a 
perjury, apparent to the jury in the very case in which he is 
examined, must nevertheless be weighed by the jury for what it 
is worth. 

By the laws of all civilized Europe, regulating the compe- 
tency of witnesses, none are excluded by reason of character, 
race, color or religion. We ourselves admit the semi-bar- 
barian of every continent and Island; of every nation and 
tongue; of every religion — Christian, heathen and pagan; and 
of every color and race, unless he may fall under the ethnologi- 
cal varieties of the human species denominated Negroes and 
Indians. 

We are not prepared to admit, nor Indeed do we believe, 
that the colored man In North Carolina Is entitled to less credit 
on his Christian oath than the colored Musselman or heathen 
of Asia or Egypt . . is when sworn on his Koran or other 
symbols of religious reverence. And when we consider the 
many thousands in the State who are In full fellowship as 
Christians, though we are quite sensible of the general demoral- 
ization which pervades them as a class, we feel little dread for 
the consequences which may attend the admissibility of their 
evidence as reported. . . 

We have conceded the general demoralization of the colored 
population; but we should do great Injustice to many of them 



266 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

if we should close this report without excepting from the stigma 
hundreds who, throughout their lives, have conducted them- 
selves in a manner altogether becoming the best of citizens, and 
deserving the very highest praise. These are lights, indeed, 
to all others; and the consideration of respect in which they are 
held ought to stimulate and encourage others of their race to 
practice the virtues of honesty and truth, which have served to 
distinguish the few. . . If the proposed evidence be admitted, 
subject to the rules long established among us and derived from 
our English ancestors, the administration of justice will have 
little to apprehend from the depravity or prejudice of the 
witness. 



The Labor Situation in Alabama 

Senate Ex. Doc. no. '27, S9 Cong.. 1 8ess., p. 60. Statement of G-en. 
Swayne, head of the Bureau in Alabama. [1865-1866] 

On [January 15, 1866] the legislature reassembled. The 
palpable failure, when it last adjourned, of the attempt to de- 
part from the standard of "equal rights before the laws," so 
long established here, and the wonderful abatement of doubt 
and dread which the freedmen themselves effected during the 
holidays by going quietly to work, had wrought a marked 
change in the public mind. The governor had no hesitation in 
vetoing the objectional measures, declaring that he would set 
his seal to no bill which did not deal alike with all men whose 
circumstances were the same. The vetoes were sustained in 
both houses. A bill has been introduced, and will pass, apply- 
ing this qualification to all laws in force, and repealing all in- 
consistent with it; and as the legislature long ago directed the 
governor to appoint a commission to codify the criminal laws, 
it Is supposed their report, which is next week to be presented, 
will be in consonance with this view. . . 

One of the governor's veto messages . . requires especial 
notice. In returning the labor contract bill, he states that in 
his opinion no remedy is necessary for violation of contracts 
beyond that of damages, which the common law affords. As 
to freedmen this is practically no remedy at all, except where 



Discussion of R ace and Labor Problems 267 

unpaid wages have accrued. Indeed, it points to an abandon- 
ment of the contract system. 

This statement is worthy of profound consideration. It did 
not emanate from me, yet I may now say that I concur in it. 
I found the contract system established here. . . The planters 
liked it, and so vigorously demanded contracts that there was 
danger they would not undertake to plant at all without them. 
Idleness was extremely prevalent, and contracts might answer 
to restrain their disposition. "Labor regulations" were there- 
fore issued from this office. But it has all the while been my 
opinion that the freedmen would be found to be best governed 
by the same measures as are most effectual with ourselves, and 
only injured by artificial regulations. The true incentives to 
labor in the free States are hunger and cold, and it was only 
injurious expectations of parcelling out at Christmas that made 
freedmen evade these, in some measure, until Christmas came. 
This artificial barrier removed, normal relations were immedi- 
ately established. The true security of labor, also, in the free 
States, Is that whenever the laborer finds himself ill treated, or 
his wages insufficient or unsafe, he can quit without having to 
account to anybody. This Is more and better than all laws. 
And the demand for labor will keep the freedman secure here 
in this particular. . . 

Contracts Imply bargaining and litigation, and at neither 
of these Is the freedman a match for his employer; nor do I 
think he can be made so, except through an ever-present com- 
petition, to which he can appeal. Undoubtedly his credulity 
will be somewhat used to victimize him just now; but . . he 
who has but one thing to dispose of soon learns to do It to the 
best advantage. 



Rights of the Negro in Virginia 

Report of Joint Committee on Reconstruction, part ii, p. 108. State- 
ment of John Baldwin, who in 1861 was a "Union" member of the 
Virginia Convention and who went to Lincoln with a plan to Pn?- 
vent the secession of Virginia. Lisobj 

There is a general feeling manifested in the legislature to 
go over our laws and to strike out the peculiar distinctive feat- 



268 Documentary History of Reconstruction 



ures separating the black and the white races before the law. . . 
The other day the subject of apprentices was brought up, and 
apprentices, white and black, were placed on the same footing, 
and in respect to both the employer is required to have them 
taught reading, writing and arithmetic. . . In reference to 
rape, abduction, and offences of that sort, all discrimination has 
been withdrawn as between offences committed on persons of 
one or the other color. . . We are wiping out gradually all 
distinctions; they are not very numerous In our laws. You 
would be surprised, in going over our legislation, to find how 
thoroughly the free negro has been the equal of the white man 
before the law in Virginia. He has always had the same right 
to sue, to sue as a pauper or as a paying suitor. His cases have 
been all tried in the same way. He has always had the same 
right to call witnesses as the white man. He has had the same 
right to acquire property, except in slaves; and it is only of late 
years that he has been prohibited from acquiring slaves. . . 

There was some difference in regard to the mode of trying 
minor offences committed by a free negro; but the distinction 
was in favor of the negro. As, for instance. It requires the 
verdict of a jury to acquit a white man of an offence in a capital 
case; but in the case of a negro, slave or free, . . the dissent 
of one magistrate out of five cleared him. It is a matter 
perfectly well understood by lawyers, who have practiced as 
criminal lawyers In Virginia, that a slave or a free negro had 
always the decided advantage over a white man in criminal 
defences. . . 

Wherever you come to a class of offences in regard to tam- 
pering with slaves, or withdrawing them from their obligations 
to their masters, or anything of that kind, the laws were severe, 
and the free negro was placed, In some respects. In a worse 
condition than a white man, but those cases are very few; and 
now the universal sentiment and feeling of the people Is to give 
to the negro, in law, all the results of the fact of his freedom. 
In regard to negro testimony there is a diversity of sentiment 
among our people. I believe everybody agrees that one of 
the effects of freedom will be, sooner or later, to place the negro 
and the white man, In this matter of testimony, on a perfect 



Discussion of Race and Labo r Problems 269 

equality before the law, . . but there is a diversity of opinion 
in reference to the expediency and safety of undertaking to 
do that thing all at one job. I think the more prudent of'our 
people are disposed to do that gradually, taking a step at a 
time, and ascertaining how it works. I think the feeling now 
is to place in the hands of the negro the right to testify in all 
matters affecting his person, his property, or his family; to 
testify in his own case, as a white man would do; and to testify 
in criminal prosecutions for offences against his person, his 
property, or his family. . . The disposition is to let that be 
the first step, and to go on gradually. You, gentlemen of the 
north, who have not a mass of 300,000 or 400,000 suddenly 
emancipated negroes in your midst, can hardly appreciate the 
caution we feel to be necessary in dealing with any of these 
problems. However much we may be determined to do them 
justice, there are questions of safety and expediency which 
must be considered by prudent and discreet men. . . The 
desire and determination is, as rapidly as possible, to remove all 
those differences before the law, and to place the blacks on an 
equal footing of equality before the law. . . There are several 
things to be taken into consideration. In the first place, we 
must let the public feeling of the white people mature. Our 
local government must conform to the judgment and opinion 
of our own people, and they must have time to make up their 
minds to this thing. If you attempt to force the matter, you 
will see that it will bring about an enmity between the races. 



The Negro under the Provisional Government 

Judge Henry D. Clayton's Address to tlie Grand Jury of Tike County, 
Alabama. Judge Clayton had been a Confederate major general. 

[1866] 

Among the terms upon which the Confederate States ter- 
minated their heroic struggle for a separate and independent 
nationality, was one which guaranteed freedom to this race. 
Although we deplore that result, as alike Injurious to the coun- 
try and fatal to the negroes, the law has been placed upon our 
statute books in solemn form by us through our delegates. 



270 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

The laws for their government, as slaves, have been repealed 
and others substituted adapted to their new condition. We 
are in honor bound to observe these laws. For myself I do 
not hesitate to say in private and public, officially and unoffi- 
cially, that, after doing all I could to avert it, when I took off 
my sword in surrender I determined to observe the terms of 
that surrender with the same earnestness and fidelity with which 
I first shouldered my musket. . . 

There is nothing in the history of the past of which we need 
be ashamed. Whilst we cherish its glorious memories, and that 
of our martyred dead, we . . remember there is still work for 
the living, and set ourselves about the task of reestablishing 
society and rebuilding our ruined homes. Others unwilling to 
submit to this condition of things may seek their homes abroad. 
You and I are bound to this soil for life, for better or for 
worse. . . What then is our duty? To repine at our lot? 
That is not the part of manliness; but to rise up, going forward, 
performing our highest missions as men. . , 

Let us deal with the facts before us as they are. The negro 
has been made free. It is no work of his. He did not seek 
freedom, and nominally free as he is, he is, beyond expression, 
helpless by his want of experience, and doubly helpless by his 
want of comprehension to understand and appreciate his con- 
dition. From the very nature of his surroundings, so far as 
promoting his welfare and adapting him to this new relation to 
society are concerned, all agencies from abroad must prove 
inadequate. . . 

To remedy the evils growing out of the abolition of slavery 
It seems two things are necessary: First, a recognition of the 
freedom of the race as a fact, the enactment of just and humane 
laws, and the willing enforcement of them. Secondly, by treat- 
ing them with perfect fairness and justice in our contracts, and 
in every way in which we may be brought in contact with them. 

By the first we convince the world of our good faith, and 
get rid of the system of espionage [Freedmen's Bureau], by 
removing the pretext of its necessity; and by the second, we 
secure the services of the negroes, teach them their places, and 
how to keep them, and convince them at last that we are indeed 



Discussion of Race and Labor Problems 271 

their best friends. . . We need the labor of the negro all over 
the country, and it is worth the effort to secure it. . . I might 
enlarge upon this subject by showing the depressing effect upon 
the country which would be produced by the sudden removal 
of so much of its productive labor. Its effect would be the 
decreased value of the lands, decreased agricultural products, 
decreased revenue to the State and country, arising from these 
sources, with their attendant results. 

Besides all this, which appeals to our interests, gentlemen, 
do we owe the negro any grudge? What has he himself done 
to provoke our hostility? Shall we be angry with him because 
freedom has been forced upon him? Shall it excite our ani- 
mosity because he has been suddenly and without any effort 
on his part, torn loose from the protection of a kind master? 
He is proud to call you Master yet. . . He may have been the 
companion of your boyhood. He may be older than you, and 
perhaps carrieci you in his arms when an infant. You may be 
bound to him by a thousand ties which only a Southern man 
knows, and which he alone can feel in all its force. It may 
be that when, only a few years ago, you girded on your cart- 
ridge-box and shouldered your trusty rifle, to go to meet the 
invaders of your country, you committed to his care your home 
and your loved ones; and when you were far away upon the 
weary march, upon the dreadful battle-field, in the trenches, 
and on the picket line, many and many a time you thought of 
that faithful old negro, and your heart warmed towards him. 



A Negro's View of the Black Laws 

John Wallace, Carpet Bag Rule in Florida, 1885, p. 35. Wallace 
was a negro politician in Florida during Reconstruction. [1865-1866] 

It is true, that some of the laws passed by the Legislature of 
1865 seem to be very diabolical and oppressive to the freedmen, 
but when we consider the long established institution of slavery, 
and the danger to which the Southern whites imagined they 
might be subjected by reason of these people, who had always 
been subject only to the command of their old masters, we are 
of the opinion that any other people under like circumstances. 



272 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

would have passed the same character of laws relative to the 
freedmen. Many of these laws we know, of our own knowl- 
edge, were passed only to deter the freedmen from committing 
crime. For instance, the law prohibiting colored people hand- 
ling arms of any kind without a license, was a dead letter, ex- 
cept in some cases where some of the freedmen would go around 
plantations hunting, with apparently no other occupation, such 
a person would be suspected of hunting something that did not 
belong to him and his arms would be taken away from him. 
We have often passed through the streets of Tallahassee with 
our gun upon our shoulder, without a license, and were never 
disturbed by any one during the time this law was in force. 
The law in regard to contracts between the whites and the 
freedmen was taken advantage of by some of the whites, and 
the freedmen did not get justice; but the great majority of the 
whites carried out their contracts to the letter, and the freed- 
men did as well as could be expected under the changed condi- 
tion of things. These laws were taken advantage of by the 
carpetbaggers to marshal the freedmen to their support after 
the freedmen had been given the right to vote. 



2. LAWS RELATING TO FREEDMEN 



Marriages of Negroes (Alabama) 

Senate Ex. Doc. no. 26, 3D Cong., 1 Sess. In other Southern states 
'he legislatures passed laws similar to this ordinance. 

[September, 1865] 

■ it ordained by the people of the State of Alabama, in con- 
vention assembled, That all marriages between freedmen and 
freedwomen, whether in a state of slavery, or since their eman- 
cipation, heretofore solemnized by any one acting or officiating 
as a minister, or any one claiming to exercise the right to sol- 
emnize the rights of matrimony, whether bond or free, are 
hereby ratified and made valid, provided the parties are now 
living together as man and wife, and in all cases of freedmen 
and freedwomen who are now living together, recognizing each 
other as man and wife . . the same are hereby declared to be 
man and wife, and bound by the legal obligations of such 
relationship. . . 

The issue of such marriages or co-habitation are hereby 
legitimatized, and shall be held to the same relations and 
obligations from and to their parents as if born in lawful 
wedlock. . . 

The fathers of children born without the father and mother 
having lived together as man and wife, or when they have 
heretofore lived together as man and wife, and have ceased 
to do so, shall be required to take care of such children, as in 
the case of bastards, under the laws of this State, and such 
laws on this subject as may be hereafter enacted by the general 
assembly. . . 

Hereafter, freedmen and freedwomen shall be bound by the 
same laws of intermarriage, and be required to conform to 
sim/ilar ceremonies, with the exception that they shall not be 
required to give bond in marrying, as in the case of whites, 
until otherwise enacted by the general assembly. . . 

The general assembly shall be, and are hereby, invested with 
full powers to provide for the maintenance and support of the 
freedmen and women and children of the State of Alabama. 

273 



274 Documentary History of Reconstruction 
Intermarriage between the Races Forbidden (Alabama) 

Penal Code of Alabama (1866). p. 31, sees. 61, 62. There were and 
are still similar laws in the other Southern states. [1866] 

If any white person and any negro, or the descendant of any 
negro, to the third generation inckisive, though one ancestor of 
each generation be a white person, intermarry, or Hve in adul- 
tery or fornication with each other, each of them must, on 
conviction, be imprisoned in the penitentiary, or sentenced to 
hard labor for the county, for not less than two, nor more than 
seven years. . . 

Any probate judge, who issues a license for the marriage of 
any persons who are prohibited by the last preceding section 
from intermarrying, knowing that they are within the provisions 
of that section; and any justice of the peace, minister of the 
gospel, or other person by law authorized to solemnize the rites 
of matrimony, who performs a marriage ceremony for such 
persons, knowing that they are within the provisions of said 
section, must, each, on conviction, be fined not less than one 
hundred, nor more than one thousand dollars; and may also be 
imprisoned in the county jail, or sentenced to hard labor for 
the county, for not less than six months. 



Civil Rights of Negroes in Arkansas 

Acts of Arkansas, 1866-67, p. 98. [February 6, 1867] 

Sec. I. Be it enacted, etc., that persons hitherto known in law 
in this state, as slaves or as free persons of color, shall have the 
right to make and enforce contracts, to sue and be sued, to be 
affiants, give evidence, to inherit, purchase, lease, sell, hold, 
convey and assign real and personal property, to make wills 
and testaments, and to have full and equal benefit of the rights 
of personal security, personal liberty, and private property, and 
of all remedies and proceedings for the enforcement and pro- 
tection of the same, that white persons now have, and shall not 
be subjected to any other or different punishment, pain or 
penalty, for the commission of any act or offense, than such 
as are prescribed for white persons committing like acts or 
offenses; and all laws, and statutes of this state shall be appli- 



Laws Relating to Freedmen 27C 

cable to all persons within its limits, without distinction of race 
or color, except as hereinafter provided. 

Sec. 2. Be it fiirtlier enacted, That all acts and parts of acts 
specially relating to negroes or mulattoes, contrary to these 
provisions be, and the same are hereby repealed; Provided, that 
nothing herein contained, shall be construed to repeal or mod- 
ify any statute, common law or usage of this state, respecting 
the marriage of white persons with negroes or mulattoes, voting 
at elections, service on juries or militia duties. . . 

Sec. 4. Be it further enacted, That all marriages between 
negroes and mulattoes shall be hereafter solemnized by the 
same persons and governed in all respects by the laws in force 
at the time as to white persons; Provided, That the clerks of 
the courts of each county shall keep a separate book for the 
record of the marriages of negroes and mulattoes. 

Sec. 5. Be it further enacted. That no negro or mulatto 
shall be admitted to attend any public school in this state, 
except such schools as may be established exclusively for col- 
ored persons. 

Negro Testimony in Alabama Courts 

Penal Code of Alabama (1866), p. 164, sec. 68. In other Southern 
states similar provision was made for negro testimony. 

[December 9, 1865] 

Freedmen, free negroes, and mulattoes, are competent wit- 
nesses in any criminal case, where the defendant is a freedman, 
free negro, or mulatto, or where the prosecution is for an injury 
to the person or property of a freedman, free negro or mulatto; 
but they can only testify as witnesses in open court; and when- 
ever a freedman, free negro, or mulatto, is a witness against a 
white person, or a white person is a witness against a freedman, 
free negro, or mulatto, the parties are competent witnesses, and 
may testify in open court, and are not disqualified by any inter- 
est in the question or suit, or by marriage. 

Labor Contracts in Florida 

Acts and Resolutions of General Assembly of Florida. IS60-6G, p. 32. 

Each Southern state had contract laws; some made no distinction 

between races; others did. [January 12, 1866] 

Sec. I. Be it enacted, etc., . . That all contracts of persons 



276 Documentary History of Reconstruction 



of color shall be made in writing and fully explained to them 
before two credible witnesses, which contract shall be in dupli- 
cate, one copy to be retained by the employer and the other 
filed with some judicial officer of the State and county in which 
the parties may be residing at the date of the contract, with 
the affidavit of one or both witnesses, setting forth that the 
terms and effect of such contract were fully explained to the 
colored person, and that he, she or they had voluntarily entered 
into and signed the contract, and no contract shall be of any 
validity against any person of color unless so executed and filed: 
Provided, That contracts for service of labor may be made 
for less time than thirty days by parol. 

Sec. 2. And PFhereas, It is essential to the welfare and 
prosperity of the entire population of the State that the agri- 
cultural interest be sustained and placed upon a permanent basis: 
It is therefore enacted. That when any person of color shall 
enter into a contract as aforesaid, to serve as a laborer for a 
year, or any other specified term, on any farm or plantation in 
this State, if he shall refuse or neglect to perform the stipula- 
tions of his contract by wilful disobedience of orders, wanton 
impudence, or disrespect to his em.ployer or his authorized 
agent, failure or refusal to perform the work assigned to him, 
idleness, or abandonment of the premises or the employment of 
the party with whom the contract was made, he or she shall 
be liable, upon the complaint of his employer, or his agent, 
made under oath before any Justice of the Peace of the county, 
to be arrested and tried before the criminal court of the county, 
and upon conviction shall be subject to all the pains and 
penalties prescribed for the punishment of vagrancy . . If it 
shall on such trial appear that the complaint made is not well 
founded, the court shall dismiss such complaint, and give judg- 
ment in favor of such laborer, against the employer, for such 
sum as may appear to be due under the contract, and for such 
damages as may be assessed by the jury. 

Sec. 3. . . when any employee as aforesaid shall be in the 
occupancy of any house or room on the premises of the em- 
ployer by virtue of his contract to labor, and he shall be ad- 
judged to have violated his contract ; or when any employee as 



Lau^s Relating to Frcedmcn o^-^ 

— ^/ / 



or 



aforesaid shall attempt to hold possession of such house .. 
room beyond the term of his contract, against the consent of 
the employer, it shall be the duty of the Judge of the Criminal 
Court, upon the application of the employer and due proof 
made before him, to issue his writ to the Sheriff of the Court, 
commanding him forthwith to eject the said employee and to 
put the employer into full possession of his premises. 

Sec. 4. . . if any person employing the services or labor of 
another under contract entered into as aforesaid shall violate 
his contract by refusing or neglecting to pay the stipulated wages 
or compensation agreed upon, or any part thereof, or by turning 
off the employee before the expiration of the term, unless for 
sufficient cause, or unless such right is reserved by the contract, 
the party so employed may make complaint thereof before the 
Judge of the Criminal Court, who shall at an early day, on 
reasonable notice to the other party, cause the same to be tried 
by a jury to be summoned for the purpose, who, in addition to 
the amount that may be proved to be due under the contract, 
may give such damages as they in their discretion may deem 
to be right and proper, and the judgment thereon shall be a 
first lien on the crops of all kinds in the cultivation of which 
such laborer may have been employed. . . 

Sec. 5. . . if any person shall entice, induce, or otherwise 
persuade any laborer or employee to quit the services of another 
to which he was bound by contract, before the expiration of the 
term of service stipulated In said contract, he shall be guilty of 
a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be fined in a sum 
not exceeding one thousand dollars, or shall stand in the pillory 
not more than three hours, or be whipped not more than thirty- 
nine stripes on the bare back, at the discretion of the jury. 



Schools for Freedmen in Florida 

Acts and Resolutions of General Assembly of Florida, 186')-6G, p. 37. 

[January 16, 1866] 

Sec. I. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Represen- 
tatives of Florida, That the Governor shall appoint an officer, 
by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, who shall be 



278 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

styled Superintendent of Common Schools for Freedmen, who 
shall hold his office during the administration of the Governor. 

Sec. 4. . . The Superintendent, with the aid of the Assist- 
ant Superintendents, shall establish schools for freedmen, when 
the number of children of persons of color, in any county or 
counties will warrant the same: Provided, The funds here- 
inafter provided for shall be sufficient to meet the expenses 
thereof. 

Sec. 5. . . no teacher shall be entitled to the benefits of the 
fund hereinafter provided, who shall not have first procured 
a certificate from the Superintendent of his or her competency, 
for which the said teacher shall pay to the Superintendent or to 
his Assistants upon his order the sum of five dollars, for the 
benefit of the fund for common schools for freedmen, which 
said certificate shall authorize and empower the said teacher to 
teach in any school for freedmen for one year from the date of 
such certificate, and no longer: Provided^ That the Super- 
intendent or any of his Assistants may at any time cancel the 
certificate of any teacher for incompetency, immorality, or for 
other sufficient cause, of which they or either of them shall be 
competent to judge. 

Sec. 6. . . a tax shall be assessed and levied upon all male 
persons of color between the ages of twenty-one years and forty- 
five, of one dollar each, the proceeds of which shall constitute 
a fund, to be denominated the Common School Fund for the 
education of freedmen, which said tax shall be collected at the 
same time and in the same manner as the State tax is now 
collected by law, and paid into the treasury of the State for 
the use of the Common School Fund for freedmen aforesaid. 

Sec. 9. . . a tuition fee shall be collected from each pupil 
under such regulations as the Superintendent shall prescribe, 
which shall be paid into the treasury of the State as a portion 
of the common school fund for freedmen. . . 

Sec. II. . . if any person shall teach any school of persons 
of color in this State, without first having obtained the license 
or certificate hereinbefore provided for, he or she shall be guilty 
of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be fined 
not less than one hundred dollars, nor more than five hundred 



Laws Relating to Freedmen 



279 



dollars, or imprisoned not less than thirty days, nor more than 
sixty days, at the discretion of the court. 

Regulations for Freedmen in Louisiana 

Senate Ex. Doc. no. >, 39 Cong., 1 i^ess., p. 93. It seems to have 
been a custom for the Louisiana parishes and towns to make such 
regulations as the following, and, during 1865, they were approved 
by the military authorities. The legislature of Louisiana passed 
no laws of importance relating to the blacks, though by custom 
they were more stringently regulated in Louisiana than in other 
Southern states. [July ISTGol 

Whereas it was formerly made the duty of the police jury to 
make suitable regulations for the police of slaves within the 
limits of the parish; and whereas slaves have become emanci- 
pated by the action of the ruling powers; and whereas it is 
necessary for public order, as well as for the comfort and 
correct deportment of said freedmen, that suitable regulations 
should be established for their government in their changed 
condition, the following ordinances are adopted with the ap- 
proval of the United States military authorities commanding 
in said parish, viz: 

Sec. I. Be it ordained by the police jury of the parish of St. 
Landry^ That no negro shall be allowed to pass within the 
limits of said parish without special permit in writing from his 
employer. Whoever shall violate this provision shall pay a 
fine of two dollars and fifty cents, or in default thereof shall 
be forced to work four days on the public road, or suffer cor- 
poreal punishment as provided hereinafter. 

Sec. 2. . . Every negro who shall be found absent from 
the residence of his employer after ten o'clock at night, without 
a written permit from his employer, shall pay a fine of five 
dollars, or in default thereof, shall be compelled to work five 
days on the public road, or suffer corporeal punishment as 
hereinafter provided. 

Sec. 3. . . No negro shall be permitted to rent or keep a 
house within said parish. Any negro violating this provision 
shrdl be immediately ejected and compelled to find an employer; 
and any person who shall rent, or give the use of any house to 
any negro, in violation of this section, shall pay a fine of five 
dollars for each offence. 



280 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

Sec. 4. . . Every negro is required to be in the regular 
service of some white person, or former owner, who shall be 
held responsible for the conduct of said negro. But said em- 
ployer or former owner may permit said negro to hire his own 
time by special permission in writing, which permission shall 
not extend over seven days at any one time. Any negro vio- 
lating the provisions of this section shall be fined five dollars 
for each offence, or in default of the payment thereof shall be 
forced to work five days on the public road, or suffer corporeal 
punishment as hereinafter provided. 

Sec. 5. . . No public meetings or congregations of negroes 
shall be allowed within said parish after sunset; but such public 
meetings and congregations may be held between the hours of 
sunrise and sunset, by the special permission in writing of the 
captain of patrol, within whose beat such meetings shall take 
place. This prohibition, however, is not to prevent negroes 
from attending the usual church services, conducted by white 
ministers and priests. Ever}" negro violating the provisions of 
this section shall pay a fine of five dollars, or in default thereof 
shall be compelled to work five days on the public road, or 
suffer corporeal punishment as hereinafter provided. 

Sec. 6. . . No negro shall be permitted to preach, exhort, 
or otherwise declaim to congregations of colored people, with- 
out a special permission in writing from the president of the 
police jury. Any negro violating the provisions of this sec- 
tion shall pay a fine of ten dollars, or in default shall be forced 
to work ten days on the public road, or suffer corporeal punish- 
ment as hereinafter provided. 

Sec. 7. . . No negro who is not in the military" service 
shall be allowed to carry fire-arms, or any kind of weapons, 
within the parish, without the special written permission of his 
employers, approved and indorsed by the nearest and most 
convenient chief of patrol. Any one violating the provisions 
of this section shall forfeit his weapons and pay a fine of five 
dollars, or in default of the payment of said fine, shall be forced 
to work five days on the public road, or suffer corporeal pun- 
ishment as hereinafter provided. 

Sec. 8. . . No negro shall sell, barter, or exchange any 



Lau's Re I at i Jig to Freedmen 28 



articles ot merchandise or traffic within said parish without th. 
special written permission of his employer, specifying the article 
of sale, barter or traffic. Any one thus offending shall pay a 
fine of one dollar for each offence, and suffer the forfeiture of 
said articles, or In default of the payment of said fine shall work 
one day on the public road, or suffer corporeal punishment as 
hereinafter provided. . . 

Sec. 9. . . Any negro found drunk, within the said parish 
shall pay a fine of five dollars, or in default thereof work five 
days on the public road, or suffer corporeal punishment as 
hereinafter provided. 

Sec. II. . . It shall be the duty of every citizen to act as a 
police officer for the detection of offences and the apprehension 
of offenders, who shall be immediately handed over to the 
proper captain or chief of patrol. . . 

Sec. 14. . . The corporeal punishment provided for In the 
foregoing sections shall consist in confining the body of the 
offender within a barrel placed over his or her shoulders, in 
the manner practiced In the army, such confinement not to con- 
tinue longer than twelve hours, and for such time within the 
aforesaid limit as shall be fixed by the captain or chief of 
patrol who Inflicts the penalty. 



A Mississippi "Jim Crow" Law 

Laws of Mississippi, 1865, p. 231. Other Southern states passed 
similar laws, which after Reconstruction, were again placed on the 
statute books. [November 21, 1S65] 

Sec. 6. It shall be unlawful for any officer, station agent, col- 
lector, or employee on any railroad in this State, to allow any 
freedman, negro, or mulatto, to ride in any first class passenger 
cars, set apart, or used by, and for white persons; and any 
person offending against the provisions of this section, shall 
be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor; and on conviction thereof 
before the circuit court of the county in which said offence was 
committed, shall be fined not less than fifty dollars, nor more 
than five hundred dollars; and shall be Imprisoned In the county 
jail, until such fine, and costs of prosecution are paid: Pro- 
zided. That this section of this act, shall not apply, in the 



282 Documentary History of Reconstruction 



case of negroes or mulattoes, travelling with their mistress, in 
the capacity of maids. 

Mississippi Apprentice Law 

Laws of Mississippi, I860, p. 86. Alabama had a similar law; other 
states, except South Carolina, had practically the same laws for 
both races. Alabama and Mississippi had distinct laws for the 
whites. [November 22, 1865] 

Sec. I. . .It shall be the duty of all sheriffs, justices of 
the peace, and other civil officers of the several counties in this 
State, to report to the probate courts of their respective coun- 
ties semi-annually, at the January and July terms of said courts, 
all freedmen, free negroes, and mulattoes, under the age of 
eighteen, in their respective counties, beats, or districts, who are 
orphans, or whose parent or parents have not the means or 
who refuse to provide for and support said minors; and there- 
upon it shall be the duty of said probate court to order the 
clerk of said court to apprentice said minors to some competent 
and suitable person, on such terms as the court may direct, 
having a particular care to the interest of said minor: Pro- 
vided, that the former owner of said minors shall have the 
preference when, in the opinion of the court, he or she shall be 
a suitable person for that purpose. 

Sec. 2. . . The said court shall be fully satisfied that the 
person or persons to whom said minor shall be apprenticed shall 
be a suitable person to have the charge and care of said minor, 
and fully to protect the interest of said minor. The said 
court shall require the said master or mistress to execute bond 
and security, payable to the State of Mississippi, conditioned 
that he or she shall furnish said minor with sufficient food and 
clothing; to treat said minor humanely; furnish medical atten- 
tion in case of sickness; teach, or cause to be taught, him or her 
to read and write, if under fifteen years old, and will conform 
to any law that may be hereafter passed for the regulation of 
the duties and relation of master and apprentice. . . 

Sec. 3. . . in the management and control of said appren- 
tices, said master or mistress shall have the power to inflict 
such moderate corporal chastisement as a father or guardian 
is allowed to inflict on his or her child or ward at common law: 



Laws Relating to Freedmen 283 



Provided, that In no case shall cruel or inhuman punishment 
be Inflicted. 

^ Sec. 4. . . If any apprentice shall leave the employment of 
his or her master or mistress, without his or her consent, said 
master or mistress may pursue and recapture said apprentice, 
and bring him or her before any justice of the peace of the 
county, whose duty it shall be to remand said apprentice to the 
service of his or her master or mistress; and in the event of a 
refusal on the part of said apprentice so to return, then said 
justice shall commit said apprentice to the jail of said county, on 
failure to give bond, to the next term of the county court; and 
It shall be the duty of said court at the first term thereafter 
to investigate said case, and If the court shall be of opinion 
that said apprentice left the employment of his or her master 
or mistress without good cause, to order him or her to be pun- 
ished, as provided for the punishment of hired freedmen, as 
may be from time to time provided for by law for desertion, 
until he or she shall agree to return to the service of his or 
her master or mistress: . . If the court shall believe that said 
apprentice had good cause to quit his said master or mistress, 
the court shall discharge said apprentice from said indenture, 
and also enter a judgment against the master or mistress for 
not more than one hundred dollars, for the use and benefit of 
said apprentice. . . 

Sec. 5. . . if any person entice away any apprentice from 
his or her master or mistress, or shall knowingly employ an 
apprentice, or furnish him or her food or clothing without the 
written consent of his or her master or mistress, or shall sell or 
give said apprentice ardent spirits without such consent, said 
person so offending shall be deemed guilty of a high misde- 
meanor, and shall, upon conviction thereof before the county 
court, be punished as provided for the punishment of persons 
enticing from their employer hired freedmen, free negroes or 
mulattoes. 

Mississippi Vagrant Law 

LaiDS of Mississippi, 1S63, p. 90. Applies to both races. There were 

similar laws in the other Southern states. [November 24, ISGo] 

Sec. I. Be it enacted, etc., . . That all rogues and vaga- 



284 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

bonds, Idle and dissipated persons, beggars, jugglers, or persons 
practicing unlawful games or plays, runaways, common drunk- 
ards, common night-walkers, pilferers, lewd, wanton, or lascivi- 
ous persons, in speech or behavior, common railers and brawlers, 
persons who neglect their calling or employment, misspend what 
they earn, or do not provide for the support of themselves 
or their families, or dependants, and all other idle and disor- 
derly persons, including all who neglect all lawful business, 
habitually misspend their time by frequenting houses of ill- 
fame, gaming-houses, or tippling shops, shall be deemed and 
considered vagrants, under the provisions of this act, and upon 
conviction thereof shall be fined not exceeding one hundred 
dollars, with all accruing costs, and be Imprisoned, at the dis- 
cretion of the court, not exceeding ten days. 

Sec. 2. . . All freedmen, free negroes and mulattoes in 
this State, over the age of eighteen years, found on the second 
Monday in January, 1866, or thereafter, with no lawful em- 
ployment or business, or found unlawfully assembling them- 
selves together, either In the day or night time, and all white 
persons so assembling themselves with freedmen, free negroes 
or mulattoes, or usually associating with freedmen, free negroes 
or mulattoes, on terms of equality, or living In adultery or 
fornication with a freed woman, free negro or mulatto, shall 
be deemed vagrants, and on conviction thereof shall be fined 
in a sum not exceeding. In the case of a freedman, free negro, 
or mulatto, fifty dollars, and a white man two hundred dollars, 
and imprisoned at the discretion of the court, the free negro 
not exceeding ten days, and the white man not exceeding six 
months. 

Sec. 3. . . All justices of the peace, mayors, and aldermen 
of incorporated towns and cities of the several counties In this 
State shall have jurisdiction to try all questions of vagrancy in 
their respective towns, counties, and cities, and it is hereby 
made their duty, whenever they shall ascertain that any person 
or persons in their respective towns, counties, and cities are 
violating any of the provisions of this act, to have said party 
or parties arrested, and brought before them, and Immediately 
Investigate said charge, and, on conviction, punish said party 



Laws Relating to Freedmen 28c 



or parties, as provided for herein. And it is hereby made the 
duty of all sheriffs, constables, town constables, and all such like 
officers, and city marshals, to report to some officer having 
jurisdiction all violations of any of the provisions of this act, 
and it shall be the duty of the county courts to enquire if any 
officers have neglected any of the duties required by this act, 
and in case any officer shall fail or neglect any duty herein it 
shall be the duty of the county court to fine said officer, upon 
conviction, not exceeding one hundred dollars, to be paid into 
the county treasury for county purposes. . . 

Sec. 5. . . All fines and forfeitures collected under the pro- 
visions of this act shall be paid into the county treasury for 
general county purposes, and in case any freedman, free 
negro or mulatto shall fail for five days after the imposition of 
any fine or forfeiture upon him or her for violation of any of 
the provisions of this act to pay the same, that it shall be, and 
is hereby, made the duty of the sheriff of the proper county to 
hire out said freedman, free negro or mulatto, to any person 
who will, for the shortest period of service, pay said fine and 
forfeiture and all costs: Proiided, A preference shall be 
given to the employer, if there be one, in which case the em- 
ployer shall be entitled to deduct and retain the amount so paid 
from the wages of such freedman, free negro or mulatto, then 
due or to become due; and in case said freedman, free negro, 
or mulatto cannot be hired out, he or she may be dealt with as 
a pauper. 

Sec. 6. . . The same duties and liabilities existing among 
white persons of this State shall attach to freedmen, free 
negroes or mulattoes, to support their indigent families and all 
colored paupers; and that in order to secure a support for such 
indigent freedmen, free negroes, or mulattoes, it shall be lawful 
and Is hereby made the duty of the county police of each 
county In this State, to levy a poll or capitation tax on each and 
every freedm.an, free negro, or mulatto, between the ages of 
eighteen and sixty years, not to exceed the sum of one dollar 
annually to each person so taxed, which tax, when collected, 
shall be paid into the count}' treasurer's hands, and constitute a 
fund to be called the Freedmen's Pauper Fund, which shall be 



286 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

applied by the commissioners of the poor for the maintenance 
of the poor of the freedmen, free negroes, and mulattoes of this 
State, under such regulations as may be established by the 
boards of county police in the respective counties of this State. 
Sec. 7. . . If any freedman, free negro, or mulatto shall 
fail or refuse to pay any tax levied according to the provisions 
of the sixth section of this act, it shall be prima facie evidence 
of vagrancy, and it shall be the duty of the sheriff to arrest such 
freedman, free negro, or mulatto or such person refusing or 
neglecting to pay such tax, and proceed at once to hire for the 
shortest time such delinquent tax-payer to any one who will 
pay the said tax, with accruing costs, giving preference to the 
employer, if there be one. 



Civil Rights of Freedmen in Mississippi 

Laws of Mississippi, 1865, p. 82. Mississippi, South Carolina, and 
Tennessee gave fewer civil rights to the blacks than the other South- 
ern states gave. [November 25, 18&5] 

Sec. I. Be it enacted, . . That all freedmen, free negroes, 
and mulattoes may sue and be sued, implead and be im- 
pleaded, in all the courts of law and equity of this State, and 
may acquire personal property, and choses in action, by descent 
or purchase, and may dispose of the same in the same manner 
and to the same extent that white persons may: Provided, 
That the provisions of this section shall not be so construed as 
to allow any freedman, free negro, or mulatto to rent or lease 
any lands or tenements except in incorporated cities or towns, 
in which places the corporate authorities shall control the same. 

Sec. 2. . . All freedmen, free negroes, and mulattoes may 
Intermarry with each other, in the same manner and under the 
same regulations that are provided by law for white persons: 
Provided, That the clerk of probate shall keep separate rec- 
ords of the same. 

Sec. 3. . . All freedmen, free negroes, or mulattoes who 
do now and have herebefore lived and cohabited together as 
husband and wife shall be taken and held in law as legally 
married, and the issue shall be taken and held as legitimate for 



Laws Relating to Freedmen 287 

all purposes; that it shall not be lawful for any freedman. free 
negro, or mulatto to intermarry with any white person ; nor for 
any white person to intermarry with any freedman, free negro, 
or mulatto; and any person who shall so intermarry, shall be 
deemed guilty of felony, and on conviction thereof shall be con- 
fined in the State penitentiary for life; and those shall be 
deemed freedmen, free negroes, and mulattoes who are of pure 
negro blood, and those descended from a negro to the third 
generation, inclusive, though one ancestor in each generation 
may have been a white person. 

Sec. 4. . . In addition to cases in which freedmen, free 
negroes, and mulattoes are now by law competent witnesses, 
freedmen, free negroes, or mulattoes shall be competent in civil 
cases, when a party or parties to the suit, either plaintiff or 
plaintiffs, defendant or defendants; also in cases where freed- 
men, free negroes, and mulattoes is or are either plaintiff or 
plaintiffs, defendant or defendants, and a white person or white 
persons, is or are the opposing party or parties, plaintiff or plain- 
tiffs, defendant or defendants. They shall also be competent 
witnesses in all criminal prosecutions where the crime charged 
is alleged to have been committed by a white person upon or 
against the person or property of a freedman, free negro, or 
mulatto: Provided, that in all cases said witnesses shall be 
examined in open court, on the stand; except, however, they 
may be examined before the grand jury, and shall in all cases 
be subject to the rules and tests of the common law as to compe- 
tency and credibility. 

Sec. 5. . . Every freedman, free negro, and mulatto shall, 
on the second Monday of January, one thousand eight hundred 
and sixty-six and annually thereafter, have a lawful home or 
employment, and shall have written evidence thereof as follows, 
to-wit: if living in any incorporated city, town, or village, a 
license from the mayor thereof; and if living outside of an 
incorporated city, town, or village, imm the member of the 
board of police of his beat, authorizing him or her to do irreg- 
ular and job work; or a written contract, as provided in section 
six in this act; which licenses may be revoked for cause at any 
time by the authority granting the same. 



288 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

Sec. 6. . . All contracts for labor made with freedmen, 
free negroes, and mulattoes for a longer period than one month 
shall be in writing, and in duplicate, attested and read to said 
freedman, free negro, or mulatto by a beat, city or county 
officer, or two disinterested white persons of the county in which 
the labor Is to be performed, of which each party shall have 
one; and said contracts shall be taken and held as entire con- 
tracts, and if the laborer shall quit the service of the employer 
before the expiration of his term of service, without good cause, 
he shall forfeit his wages for that year up to the time of 
quitting. 

Sec. 7. . . Every civil officer shall, and ever}' person may, 
arrest and carry back to his or her legal employer any freed- 
man, free negro, or mulatto who shall have quit the service of 
his or her employer before the expiration of his or her term of 
service without good cause; and said officer and person shall be 
entitled to receive for arresting and carrying back every desert- 
ing employe aforesaid the sum of five dollars, and ten cents per 
mile from the place of arrest to the place of delivery; and the 
same shall be paid by the employer, and held as a set-off for 
so much against the wages of said deserting employe : Pro- 
z'ided, that said arrested party, after being so returned, may 
appeal to the justice of the peace or member of the board of 
police of the count}', who, on notice to the alleged employer, 
shall try sum.marily whether said appellant is legally employed 
by the alleged employer, and has good cause to quit said em- 
ployer; either party shall have the right of appeal to the county 
court, pending which the alleged deserter shall be remanded to 
the alleged employer or otherwise disposed of, as shall be right 
and just; and the decision of the county court shall be final. 

Sec. 9. . .If any person shall persuade or attempt to per- 
suade, entice, or cause any freedman, free negro, or mulatto to 
desert from the legal employment of any person before the 
expiration of his or her term of service, or shall I'OiowIngly 
employ any such deserting freedman, free negro, or mulatto, 
or shall knowingly give or sell to any such deserting freedman, 
free negro, or mulatto, any food, raiment, or other thing, he 
or she shall be guiltv of a misdem.eanor, and, uvon conviction. 



Laii-s Relating to Freedmen 289 

shall be fined not less than twent\'-nve dollars and not more 
than two hundred dollars and the costs; and if said fine and 
costs shall not be immediately paid, the court shall sentence 
said convict to not exceeding two months' imprisonment in the 
count}' jail, and he or she shall moreo\-er be liable to the party 
injured in damages: Provided, if any person shall, or shall 
attempt to, persuade, entice, or cause any freedman, free ne- 
gro, or mulatto to desert from any legal employment of any 
person, with the view to employ said freedman, free negro, or 
mulatto without the limits of this State, such person, on con- 
viction, shall be fined not less than fifn,- dollars, and not more 
than five hundred dollars and costs; and if said fine and costs 
shall not be immediately paid, the court shall sentence said 
convict to not exceeding six months imprisonment in the county 
jail. 

Sec. 10, , . it shall be lavrful for any freedman, free ne- 
gro, or mulatto, to charge any white person, freedman, free 
negro, or mulatto by affidavit, with any criminal ofiense against 
his or her person or propert}', and upon such affidavit the 
proper process shall be issued and executed as if said affidavit 
was made by a white person, and it shall be lawful for any 
freedman. free negro, or mulatto, in any action, suit or con- 
troversy pending, or about to be instituted in any court of 
law or equit}' in this state, to make all needful and lawful 
affidavits as shall be necessan,' for the institution, prosecution 
or defense of such suit or controversy. 

Sec. II. . . the penal laws of this State, in all cases not 
otherwise specially provided for. shall apply and extend to 
all freedmen, free negroes and mulattoes. 



Certain Offenses of Freedmen (Mississippi) 

Laics of Mississippi, IS60, p. 165. [November 29, 1865] 

Sec. I. Be it enacted, . . That no freedman, free negro 
or mulatto, not in the militan- service of the Lnited States 
government, and not licensed so to do by the board of police 
of his or her county.-, shall keep or carr\' fire-arms of any kind, 
or any ammunition, dirk or bowie knife, and on conviction 

19 



290 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

thereof in the county court shall be punished by fine, not ex- 
ceeding ten dollars, and pay the costs of such proceedings, and 
all such arms or ammunition shall be forfeited to the informer; 
and it shall be the duty of ev^ery civil and military officer to 
arrest any freedman, free negro, or mulatto found with any 
such arms or ammunition, and cause him or her to be com- 
mitted to trial in default of bail. 

Sec, 2. . . Any freedman, free negro, or mulatto com- 
mitting riots, routs, affrays, trespasses, malicious mischief, cruel 
treatment to animals, seditious speeches, insulting gestures, 
language, or acts, or assaults on any person, disturbance of the 
peace, exercising the function of a minister of the Gospel with- 
out a license from some regularly organized church, vending 
spirituous or intoxicating liquors, or committing any other mis- 
demeanor, the punishment of which is not specifically provided 
for by law, shall, upon conviction thereof in the county court, 
be fined not less than ten dollars, and not more than one 
hundred dollars, and may be imprisoned at the discretion of 
the court, not exceeding thirty days. 

Sec. 3. . . If any white person shall sell, lend, or give 
to any freedman, free negro, or mulatto any fire-arms, dirk or 
bowie knife, or ammunition, or any spirituous or intoxicating 
liquors, such person or persons so offending, upon conviction 
thereof In the county court of his or her county, shall be fined 
not exceeding fifty dollars, and may be Imprisoned, at the dis- 
cretion of the court, not exceeding thirty days. . . 

Sec. 5. . . If any freedman, free negro, or mulatto, con- 
victed of any of the misdemeanors provided against In this act, 
shall fail or refuse for the space of five days, after conviction, 
to pay the fine and costs Imposed, such person shall be hired out 
by the sheriff or other officer, at public outcry, to any white 
person who will pay said fine and all costs, and take said con- 
vict for the shortest time. 



North Carolina "Black Code" 

?f North Carolina, session of 1866, p. 99; a 
J9 C07ig., 1 Sess., p. 197. [Mc 

Sec. I. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State 



Public Laws of North Carolina, session of 1866, p. 99; and Senate Ex. 
Doc. no. 26, 39 Cong., 1 Sess., p. 197. [March 10, 1866] 



Laivs Relating t o Freedmen 291 

of North Carolina, . . That negroes and their Issue, even 
where one ancestor In each succeeding generation to the fourth 
inclusive Is white, shall be deemed persons of color. 

Sec. 2. . . All persons of color who are now Inhabitants 
of this State shall be entitled to the same privileges, and are 
subject to the same burthens and disabilities, as by the laws 
of the State were conferred on, or were attached to, free per- 
sons of color, prior to the ordinance of emancipation, except 
as the same may be changed by law. 

Sec. 3. . . Persons of color shall be entitled to all the 
privileges of white persons in the mode of prosecuting, defend- 
ing, continuing, removing and transferring their suits at law 
and In equity; and likewise to the same mode of trial by jury, 
and all the privileges appertaining thereto. And in all pro- 
ceedings In equity by or against them, their answer shall have 
the same force and effect in all respects as the answer of white 
persons. 

Sec. 4. . . In all cases of apprenticeship of persons of 
color, under chapter five (5) of the revised code, the master 
shall be bound to discharge the same duties to them as to white 
apprentices . . [and the word ivhitc is stricken from the code] : 
Provided always, That in the binding out of apprentices of 
color, the former masters of such apprentices, when they shall 
be regarded as suitable persons by the court, shall be entitled 
to have such apprentices bound to them, in preference to other 
persons. 

[Chapter 5, section 3, of the revised code, as amended by 
this act, reads thus : 

The master or mistress shall provide for the apprentice diet, 
clothes, lodging, and accommodations fit and necessary; and 
such apprentice shall teach or cause to be taught to read and 
write, and the elementary rules of arithmetic; and at the expir- 
ation of every apprenticeship shall pay to each apprentice six 
dollars, and furnish him with a new suit of clothes, and a new 
Bible; and if upon complaint made to the court of pleas and 
quarter sessions it shall appear that any apprentice is ill-used, 
or not taught the trade, profession and employment to which 
he was bound, or that any apprentice is not taught reading, 



292 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

writing, and arithmetic as aforesaid, the court may remove and 
bind him to some other suitable person,] 

[Section 6, chapter 5, of the revised code of North Caro- 
lina, as amended by this act, reads thus: 

If any apprentice, whether colored or otherwise, who shall 
be well used by his master, and who shall have received from 
his said master not less than twelve months' schooling, shall 
absent himself, after arriving at the age of eighteen years, from 
his master's service before the term of his apprenticeship shall 
have expired, every such apprentice shall be compelled to make 
satisfaction to the master for the loss of his service ; and in case 
any apprentice shall refuse to make such satisfaction, his master 
may recover by warrant before any justice of the peace such 
satisfaction, not exceeding sixty dollars, as the justice may de- 
termine ought to be made by such apprentice; or the master 
may have his action on the case against the apprentice, for 
his default: Provided, That no apprentice shall be compelled 
to make any satisfaction, but within seven years next after the 
end of the term for which he shall be bound to serve.] 

Sec. 5. . . In all cases where men and women, both or one 
of them were lately slaves and are now emancipated, now co- 
habit together in the relation of husband and wife, the parties 
shall be deemed to have been lawfully married as man and 
wife at the time of the commencement of such cohabitation, al- 
though they may not have been married in due form of law. 
And all persons whose cohabitation is hereby ratified into a 
state of marriage shall go before the clerk of the court of pleas 
and quarter sessions of the county in which they reside, at his 
office, or before some justice of the peace, and acknowledge 
the fact of such cohabitation, and the time of its commence- 
ment, and the clerk shall enter the same in a book kept for that 
purpose; and if the acknowledgment be made before a justice 
of the peace, such justice shall report the same in writing to 
the clerk of the court of pleas and quarter sessions, and the 
clerk shall enter the same as though the acknowledgment had 
been made before him; and such entry shall be deemed prima 
facie evidence of the allegations therein contained. For mak- 
ing such entry and giving a certificate of the same, the clerk 



Laws Relating to Freedmen 293 

shall be entitled to a fee of twent}^-five cents, to be paid by the 
party for whom the services are rendered. 

Sec. 7. . . All contracts between any persons whatever, 
whereof one or more of them shall be a person of color, for 
the sale or purchase of any horse, mule, ass, jennet, neat cattle, 
hog, sheep or goat, whatever may be the value of such articles, 
and all contracts between such persons for any other article or 
articles of property v/hatever of the value of ten dollars or 
more; and all contracts executed or executory betv\-een such 
persons for the payment of money of the value of ten dollars 
or more, shall be void as to all persons whatever, unless the 
same be put in writing and signed by the vendors or debtors, 
and witnessed by a white person who can read and write. . . 

Sec. 9. . . Persons of color not otherwise incompetent shall 
be capable of bearing evidence in all controversies at law and 
in equity, where the rights of persons or property of persons 
of color shall be put in issue, and would be concluded by the 
judgment or decree of court; and also in pleas of the State, 
where the violence, fraud, or injury alleged shall be charged 
to have been done by or to persons of color. In all other 
civil and criminal cases such evidence shall be deemed inad- 
missible, unless by consent of the parties of record: Provided, 
That this section shall not go into effect until jurisdiction In 
matters relating to freedmen shall be fully committed to the 
courts of this State : Provided, further, That no person shall 
be deemed incompetent to bear testimony in such cases because 
of being a party to the record or in interest. . . 

Sec. II. . . Any person of color convicted by due course 
of law of an assault with an attempt to commit rape upon the 
body of a white female, shall suffer death. 

Sec. 12. . . The criminal laws of the State embracing and 
affecting a white person are hereby extended to persons of color, 
except where it is otherwise provided in this act, and whenever 
they shall be convicted of any act made criminal, if committed 
by a white person, they shall be punished in like manner, except 
in such cases where other and different punishment may be pre- 
scribed or allowed by this act. . . 



294 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

The Domestic Relations of Negroes, Pauperism 
and Vagrancy (South Carolina) 

statutes at Large of South Carolina, vol. xiii, p. 269. This statute 
relates also to whites except where otherwise specified. Much of 
this, it is said, was borrowed from the British West Indies. 

[December 21, 1865] 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives, now 
met and sitting in General Assembly, and by the authority of 
the same, as follows : 

Husband and Wife 

I. The relation of husband and wife amongst persons of 
color is established. 

II. Those who now live as such are declared to be husband 
and wife. 

III. In case of one man having two or more reputed wives, 
or one woman two or more reputed husbands, the man shall, 
by the first day of April next, select one of his reputed wives, 
or the woman one of her reputed husbands; and the ceremony 
of marriage between this man or woman, and the person so 
selected, shall be performed. 

IV. Every colored child, heretofore born, is declared to 
be the legitimate child of Its mother, and also of his colored 
father. If he is acknowledged by such a father. 

V. Persons of color desirous hereafter to become husband 
and wife, should have the contract of marriage duly solemnized. 

VI. A Clergyman, the District Judge, a Magistrate, or any 
judicial officer, may solemnize marriages. 

VII. Cohabitation, with reputation, or recognition of the 
parties, shall be evidence of marriage in cases criminal and 
civil. 

VIII. One v/ho is a pauper or a charge to the public shall 
not be competent to contract marriage. Marriage between a 
white person and a person of color shall be illegal and void. 

IX. The marriage of an apprentice shall not, without the 
consent of the master, be lawful. 

X. A husband shall not, for any cause, abandon or turn 
away his wife, nor a wife her husband. Either of them that 
abandons or turns away the other may be prosecuted for a mis- 



Laws Relating to Freedmen 29c 



demeanor; and, upon conviction thereof, before a District 
Judge, may be punished by a fine and corporal punishment, duly 
apportioned to the circumstances of aggravation or mitigation. 
A husband not disabled, who has been thus convicted of hav- 
ing abandoned or turned away his wife, or who has been shown 
to fail in maintaining his wife and children, may be bound to 
service by the District Judge from year to year, and so much 
of the profits of his labor as may be requisite, be applied to the 
maintenance of his wife and children; the distribution between 
them being made according to their respective merits and ne- 
cessities. In like manner, a wife not disabled, who has been 
thus convicted, may be bound, and the proceeds of her labor 
applied to the maintenance of her children. In either case, 
any surplus profit shall go to the person bound. At the end 
of any year for which he was bound, the husband shall have 
the right to return to or receive back his wife, and thereupon 
shall be discharged upon condition of his afterwards maintain- 
ing his wife and children. A like right a wife shall have, at 
the end of the year for which she was bound on condition of 
her making future exertions to maintain her family. 

XI. Whenever a husband shall be convicted of having 
abandoned or turned away his wife, she shall be competent to 
make a contract for service; and until he shall return to her or 
receive her back, she shall hav-e all the rights, and be subject 
to all the liabilities, of an unmarried woman, except the right 
to contract marriage. When either husband or wife has aban- 
doned the other in any District, and that other remains there, 
if upon the warrant or summons against the one charged of 
misdemeanor, under the Section next preceding, there be a 
return by a Sheriff or Constable, under oath, that the accused 
has left the District, or absconded, so that there can not be per- 
sonal service, the prosecution may proceed as if the accused 
had been arrested, and, upon conviction, all the other conse- 
quences shall follow, except punishment, and that shall be re- 
served until the accused may be brought into Court, when an 
opportunity shall be given for disproving the truth of the re- 
turn and setting aside the conviction. 



296 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

Parent and Child 

XII. The relation of parent and child, amongst persons of 
color, is recognized, confers all the rights and remedies, civil 
and criminal, and imposes all the duties that are incident thereto 
by law, unless the same are modified by this Act, or some leg- 
islation connected herewith. 

XIII. The father shall support and maintain his children 
under fifteen years of age, whether they be born of one of his 
reputed wives or of any other woman. 

Guardian and Ward 

XIV. The relation of guardian and ward, as it now exists 
in this State, with all the rights and duties incident thereto, 
is extended to persons of color, w^ith the modifications made by 
this Act. 

Master and Apprentice 

XV. A child, over the age of t^vo years, born of a colored 
parent, may be bound by the father, if he be living in the Dis- 
trict, or in case of his death or absence from the District, by the 
mother, as an apprentice to any respectable white or colored 
person w^ho is competent to make a contract; a male until he 
shall attain the age of twenty-one years, and a female until she 
shall attain the age of eighteen. 

XVI. Illegitimate children, within the ages above specified, 
may be bound by the mother. 

XVII. Colored children, between the ages mentioned, who 
have neither father nor mother living in the District in which 
they are found, or whose parents are paupers, or unable to af- 
ford to them m.aintenance, or whose parents are not teaching 
them habits of industry and honesty, or are persons of notor- 
iously bad character, or are vagrants, or have been, either of 
them, convicted of any infamous offense, may be bound as ap- 
prentices by the District Judge, or one of the Magistrates, for 
the aforesaid term. 

XVIII. Males of the age of twelve years, and females of 
the age of ten years, shall sign the indenture of apprenticeship, 
and be bound thereby. 

XIX. When the apprentice is under these ages, and in all 



Laws Relating to Freedmen 297 

cases of compulsory apprenticeship, where the infant refuses 
assent, his signature shall not be necessary to the validity of 
the apprenticeship. The master's obligation of apprenticeship, 
in all cases of compulsory apprenticeship, and cases where the 
father or mother does not bind the child, shall be executed 
in the presence of the District Judge, or one of the Magistrates, 
certified by him, and filed in the office of the Clerk of the Dis- 
trict Court. 

XX. The indenture of voluntary apprenticeship shall be 
under seal, and be signed by the master, the parent and the 
apprentice, attested by two credible witnesses, and approved by 
the District Judge, or one of the Magistrates. . . 

XXII. The m.aster or mistress shall teach the apprentice 
the business of husbandry, or some other useful trade or busi- 
ness, which shall be specified in the instrument of apprentice- 
ship; shall furnish him wholesome food and suitable clothing; 
teach him habits of industry, honesty and morality; gov^ern and 
treat him with humanity; and if there be a school within a 
convenient distance, in which colored children are taught, shall 
send him to school at least six weeks in every year of his 
apprenticeship, after he shall be of the age of ten years: Pro- 
vided, That the teacher of such school shall have the license 
of the District Judge to establish the same. 

XXIII. The master shall have authority to inflict moderate 
chastisement and impose reasonable restraint upon his appren- 
tice, and to recapture him if he depart from his service. 

XXIV. The master shall receive to his ov/n use the profits 
of the labor of his apprentice. The relation of master and 
apprentice shall be dissolved by the death of the master, except 
where the apprentice is engaged in husbandry, and may be dis- 
solved by order of the District Judge, when both parties con- 
sent, or it shall appear to be seriously detrimental to either 
party. In the excepted case, it shall terminate at the end of 
the year in which the master died. 

XXV. In cases of the habitual violation or neglect of the 
duties herein imposed on the master, and whenever the appren- 
tice is in danger of moral contamination by the vicious conduct 
of the master, the relation of master and apprentice may be 



298 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

dissolved by the order of the District Judge; and any person 
shall have the right to complain to the District Judge that the 
master does not exercise proper discipline over his apprentice, 
to the injury of his neighbors; and if upon investigation, it shall 
be so found, the relation between the parties shall be dis- 
solved. 

XXVI. In case of alleged violation of duty, or of miscon- 
duct on the part of the master or apprentice, either party may 
make complaint to a Magistrate, who shall summon the parties 
before him, inquire into the causes of complaint, and make 
such order as shall be meet, not extending to the dissolution 
of the relation of the parties; and if the master be found to be 
in default, he shall be fined not exceeding twenty dollars and 
costs; and if the apprentice be in default, he may be cor- 
rected in such manner as the Magistrate shall order, A friv- 
olous complaint made by either party shall be regarded as a 
default. 

XXVII. In cases in which the District Judge shall order 
the apprentice to be discharged for immoderate correction, or 
unlawful restraint of the apprentice, the master shall be liable 
to indictment, and, on conviction, to fine and imprisonment, at 
the discretion of the Court, not exceeding a fine of fifty dollars, 
and imprisonment of thirty days; and, also, to an action for 
damages, by the apprentice. . . 

XXIX. A mechanic, artisan or shop keeper, or other per- 
son who is required to have a license, shall not receive any 
colored apprentice without having first obtained such license. 

XXX. At the expiration of his term of service, the appren- 
tice shall have the right to recover from his master a sum not 
exceeding sixty dollars. 

Contracts for Service 

XXXV. All persons of color who may contract for service 
or labor, shall be known as servants, and those with whom they 
contract, shall be known as masters. 

XXXVI. Contracts between masters and servants, for one 
month or more, shall be in writing, be attested by one white 
witness, and be approved by the Judge of the District Court, or 
by a magistrate. . . 



Laws Relating to Freedmen 299 

XXXVIII. If the rate of wages be not stipulated by the 
parties to the contract, it shall be fixed by the District Judge, 
or a Magistrate, on application by one of the parties, and 
notice to the other. 

XXXIX. A person of color, who has no parent living In 
the District, and Is ten years of age, and Is not an apprentice, 
may make a valid contract for labor or service for one year 
or less. 

XL. Contracts between masters and servants may be set 
aside for fraud or unfairness, notwithstanding they have been 
approved. 

XLI. Written contracts between masters and servants shall 
be presented for approval within twenty days after their exe- 
cution. 

XLII. Contracts for one month or more shall not be bind- 
ing on the servant, unless they are in writing, and have been 
presented for approval within the time aforesaid. 

XLIII. For any neglect of the duty to make a contract 
as herein directed, or the evasion of that duty by the repeated 
employment of the same persons for periods less than one 
month, the party offending shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, 
and be liable on conviction, to pay a sum not exceeding fifty 
dollars, and not less than five dollars, for each person so em- 
ployed. No written contract shall be required when the ser- 
vant voluntarily receives no remuneration except food and 
clothing. . . 

Regulations of Labor on Farms 

XLV. On farms or In out-door service, the hours of labor, 
except on Sunday, shall be from sun-rise to sun-set, with a 
reasonable interval for breakfast and dinner. Servants shall 
rise at the dawn in the morning, feed, water and care for the 
animals on the farm, do the usual and needful work about the 
premises, prepare their meals for the day. If required by the 
master, and begin the farm work or other work by sun-rise. 
The servant shall be careful of all the animals and property 
of his master, and especially of the animals and Implements 
used by him, shall protect the same from injury by other per- 



300 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

sons, and shall be answerable for all property lost, destroyed 
or Injured by his negligence, dishonesty or bad faith. 

XLVI. All lost time, not caused by the act of the master, 
and all losses occasioned by neglect of the duties hereinbefore 
described, may be deducted from the wages of the servant; 
and food, nursing and other necessaries for the servant, whilst 
he is absent from w^ork on account of sickness or other cause, 
may also be deducted from his wages. Servants shall be quiet 
and orderly in their quarters, at their work, and on the prem- 
ises; shall extinguish their lights and fires, and retire to rest 
at seasonable hours. Work at night, and out-door work In 
Inclement weather, shall not be exacted, unless In case of neces- 
sity. Servants shall not be kept at home on Sunday, unless 
to take care of the premises, or animals thereupon, or for work 
of daily necessity, or on unusual occasions; and In such cases, 
only so many shall be kept at home as are necessary for these 
purposes. Sunday work shall be done by the servants in turn, 
except In cases of sickness or other disability, when it may be 
assigned to them out of their regular turn. Absentees on 
Sunday shall return to their homes by sun-set. 

XLVII. The master may give to his servant a task at work 
about the business of the farm v^'hich shall be reasonable. If 
the servant complain of the task, the District Judge, or a 
Magistrate, shall have power to reduce or increase It. Failure 
to do a task shall be deemed evidence of indolence, but a single 
failure shall not be conclusive. When the servant has entered 
into a contract, he may be required to rate himself as a full 
hand, three-fourths, half, or one-fourth hand, and according 
to this rate, Inserted in the contract, shall be the task, and 
of course the wages. 

XLVIII. Visitors or other persons shall not be Invited or 
allowed by the servant to come or remain upon the premises 
of the master without his express permission. 

XLIX. Servants shall not be absent from the premises 
without the permission of the master. 

Rights of Master as between Himself and his Servant 

L. When the servant shall depart from the service of the 



Laws Relating to Freedmen 301 



master without good cause, he shall forfeit the wages due to 
him. The servant shall obey all lawful orders of the master 
or his agent, and shall be honest, truthful, sober, civil and dil- 
igent in his business. The master may moderately correct 
servants who have made contracts, and are under eighteen years 
of age. He shall not be liable to pay for any additional or 
extraordinary services or labor of his servant, the same being 
necessary, unless by express agreement. 

Causes of Discharge of a Servant 
LI. The master may discharge his servant for wilful dis- 
obedience of the lawful order of himself or his agent; habitual 
negligence or indolence in business; drunkenness, gross moral 
or legal misconduct; want of respect and civility to himself, 
his family, guests or agents; or for prolonged absence from 
the premises, or absence on two or more occasions without per- 
mission. 

LII. For any acts or things herein declared to be causes 
for the discharge of a servant, or for any breach of contract or 
duty by him, instead of discharging the servant, the master 
may complain to the District Judge, or one of the Magistrates, 
who shall have power, on being satisfied of the misconduct com- 
plained of, to inflict, or cause to be inflicted, on the servant, 
suitable corporal punishment, or impose upon him such pecun- 
iary fine as may be thought fit, and immediately to remand him 
to his work; which fine shall be deducted from his wages, if 
not otherwise paid. 

LIII. If a master has made a valid contract with a servant, 
the District Judge or Magistrate may compel such servant to 
observe his contract, by ordering infliction of the punishment, 
or imposition of the fine hereinbefore authorized. 

Rights of Master as to Third Persons 
LIV. The master shall not be liable for the voluntary 
trespasses, torts or misdemeanors of his servants. He shall 
not be liable for any contract of a servant, unless made by his 
authority; nor for the acts of the servant, unless they shall be 
done within the scope of the authority Intrusted to him by the 
master, or in the course of his employment for the master; in 



302 Documentaj'y History of Reconstruction 

which excepted cases the master shall be answerable for the 
fraud, negligence or want of skill of his servant. The master's 
right of self-defense shall embrace his servant. It shall be his 
duty to protect his servant from violence by others, in his 
presence, and he may render him aid and assistance in obtain- 
ing redress for injury to his rights of person or property. 

LV. Any person who shall deprive a master of the service 
of his servant, by enticing him away, or by harboring and de- 
taining him, knowing him to be a servant, or by beating, con- 
fining, disabling or otherwise injuring him, shall be liable, on 
conviction thereof, to a fine not exceeding two hundred dol- 
lars, and not less than twenty dollars, and to imprisonment or 
hard labor, at ^ne discretion of the Court, not exceeding sixty 
days; and, also, to an action by the master to recover dam- 
ages for loss of services. 

LVI. The master may command his servant to aid him 
in the defense of his own person, family, premises or property; 
or of the personal property of any servant on the premises 
of the master; and it shall be the duty of the servant, promptly 
to obey such command. 

LVII. The master shall not be bound to furnish medicine 
or medical assistance for his servant, without his express en- 
gagement. 

LVIII. A master may give the character of one who has 
been in his service to a person who may make inquiry of him; 
which shall be a privileged communication, unless it be falsely 
and maliciously given. And no servant shall have the power 
to make a new contract, without the production of the dis- 
charge of his former master. District Judge or Magistrate. 

LIX. Any person who shall wilfully misrepresent the char- 
acter of a servant, whether he has been in his service or not, 
either for moral qualities, or for skill or experience in any 
employment or service, shall be liable to an action for dam- 
ages by any one who has been aggrieved thereby. 

LX. Upon the conviction of any master of larceny or 
felony, the District Judge shall have the right, upon the de- 
mand of any white freeholder, to annul the contract between 
such convict and his colored servants. If any white free- 



Laws Relating to Freedmen 303 

holder shall complain to the District Judge that any master 
so manages and controls his colored servants as to make them 
a nuisance to the neighborhood, the Judge shall order an issue 
to be made up and tried before a jury, and if such issue is 
found in favor of the complainant, the District Judge shall 
annul the contract between such master and his colored servant 
or servants, and in each of the cases above provided for, he 
shall not approve any subsequent contract between such person 
and any colored servant for two years thereafter. 

Rights of Servant as between Himself and Master 
LXI. The serv^ant may depart from the master's service 
for an insufficient supply of wholesome food; f->r an unauthor- 
ized battery upon his own person, or one of his family, not 
committed in defense of the person, family, guests or agents 
of the master, not to prevent a crime or aggravated misde- 
meanor; invasion by the master of the conjugal rights of the 
servant; or his failure to pay wages when due; and may re- 
cover wages due for services rendered to the time of his de- 
parture. 

LXII. The contract for service shall not be terminated 
by the death of the master, without the assent of the servant. 
Wages due to white laborers and to white and colored servants 
shall rank as rent does, in case of the insufficiency of the mas- 
ter's property to pay all debts and demands against him, but 
not more than one year's wages shall be so preferred. When 
wrongfully discharged from service, the servant may recover 
wages for the whole period of service according to the contract. 
If his wages have not been paid to the day of his discharge, he 
may regard his contract rescinded by the discharge, and recover 
wages up to that time. . . 

LXIV. The master shall, upon the discharge, or at the 
expiration of his term of service, furnish the servant with a 
certificate of discharge, and at the request of the servant, give 
him a certificate of character. 

Mutual Rights of Master and Servant 
LXV. Whenever a master discharges a servant, the ser- 
vant may make immediate complaint to a District Judge or 



304 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

Magistrate, and whenever a servant departs from his master's 
service, the master may make like complaint. In either case, 
the District Judge or Magistrate, shall, by summons or war- 
rant, have the parties brought before him, hear them and their 
witnesses, and decide as to the sufficiency of the cause of his dis- 
charge or departure. This decision shall not affect or pre- 
judice any further action on either side, but it may avail to 
restore the relation of master and servant between the parties, 
if that be ordered. If the servant be decided to have been 
unlawfully discharged, and should desire to return to service 
under his contract, the master shall be compelled to receive 
him, under the penalty of twenty dollars, in case of his refusal. 
If the master desire the return of the servant, who has been 
decided to have departed without sufficient cause, the servant 
may be compelled, by fine and corporal punishment, to return 
to the service of the master, and perform his duties under the 
contract. 

Rights of Servants as to Third Persons 
LXVI. The servant shall not be liable for contracts made 
by the express authority of his master. 

LXVII. A servant shall not be liable, civilly or crimin- 
ally, for any act done by the command of his master, in de- 
fense of the master's person, family, guests, agents, servants, 
premises or property. He shall not be liable, in any action 
ex delicto, for any tort committed on the premises of the master 
by his express command. 

House Servants and Others not in Husbandry 
LXVIII. The rules and regulations prescribed for master 
and servant apply to persons in service as household servants, 
conferring the same rights and imposing the same duties, with 
the following m.odifications : 

LXIX. Servants and apprentices employed as house ser- 
vants in the various duties of the household, and in all the 
domestic duties of the family, shall, at all hours of the day 
and night, and on all days of the week, promptly answer all 
calls and obey and execute all lawful orders and commands of 
the family in whose service they are employed. 



Laws Relating to Freedmen 30C 

LXX. It is the duty of this class of servants to be especially 
civil and polite to their masters, their families and guests, and 
they shall receive gentle and kind treatment. 

For All Servants 
LXXI. In all contracts between master and servant for 
service, the foregoing regulations shall be stipulations, unless 
it shall be otherwise provided In the contract, and the follow- 
ing form shall be a sufficient contract, unless some special agree- 
ment be made between the parties : 

Form of Contract 

I (name of servant) do hereby agree with (name 
of master) to be his (here insert the words "house- 
hold servant" or "servant in husbandry," as the case 
may be,) from the date hereof, at the wages of (here 
Insert the wages, to be paid by the year or month;) 
and in consideration thereof, I (name of master) 
agree to receive the said (name of servant) as such 

servant, and to pay him the said wages, this 

day of 186 

A. B. 
Witness; E. F. CD. 

I approve the above contract this day of 

186 

G. H., {Judge of the District Court, or Magistrate.) 

After the words "servant in husbandry" may be inserted, 
if It be required, the words "to be rated as full hand, three- 
fourths hand, half hand, or one-fourth hand," as the case 
may be. 

Mechanics, Artisans and Shopkeepers 

LXXII. No person of color shall pursue or practice the 
art, trade or business of an artisan, mechanic or shopkeeper, 
or any other trade, employment or business (besides that of 
husbandry, or that of a servant under a contract for service or 
labor,) on his own account and for his own benefit, or in part- 
nership with a white person, or as agent or servant of any per- 



20 



3o6 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

son, until he shall have obtained a license therefor from the 
Judge of the District Court; which license shall be good for 
one year only. This license the Judge may grant upon peti- 
tion of the applicant, and upon being satisfied of his skill and 
fitness, and of his good moral character, and upon payment, 
by the applicant, to the Clerk of the District Court, of one 
hundred dollars, if a shopkeeper or peddler, to be paid an- 
nually, and ten dollars, if a mechanic, artisan or to engage in 
any other trade, also to be paid annually: Provided, however, 
That upon complaint being made and proved to the District 
Judge of an abuse of such license he shall revoke the same: 
and provided, also, That no person of color shall practice any 
mechanical art or trade unless he shows that he has served an 
apprenticeship in such trade or art, or is now practicing such 
trade or art. . . 

Eviction of Persons of Color 

LXXV. Where, upon any farm or lands, there now are 
persons of color, who were formerly the slaves of the owner, 
lessee or occupant of the said farm or lands, who may have 
been there on the tenth day of November, eighteen hundred 
and sixty-five, and have been on said land for six months pre- 
vious; and who are helpless, either from old age, infancy, dis- 
ease or other cause; and who are unable, of themselves, and 
have no parent or other officer able to maintain them, and to 
provide other homes or quarters, it shall not be lawful for 
the present, or any subsequent owner, lessee or occupant, be- 
fore the first day of January, in the year eighteen hundred and 
sixty-seven, to evict or drive from the houses which now are, 
or hereafter shall be, lawfully occupied by such helpless persons 
of color, such helpless persons, or any of them, by rendering 
such houses uninhabitable, or by any other means; and upon 
conviction of having done so, every such owner, lessee, occu- 
pant, agent or other person, shall be fined not exceeding fifty 
dollars, nor less than fiv^e dollars, for each person of color 
so evicted, and may be imprisoned, at the discretion of the 
Judge of the District Court, not exceeding one month. 

LXXVI. But the owner, lessee, occupant of such farm or 



Laws Relating to Free dm en 307 

lands shall, nevertheless, have authority to preserve order and 
good conduct In the houses so occupied as aforesaid, and to 
prevent visitors and other persons from sojourning therein; and 
for Insolence to himself or family, for theft or trespass com- 
mitted by such persons of color, or any one of them, upon the 
premises, or for violation by them of his regulations for the 
preservation of order and good conduct, the prevention of vis- 
itors and sojourners therein, the owner, lessee, or occupant, may 
complain to the Judge of the District Court, or a Magistrate, 
who, upon finding the complaint well founded, may, according 
to the case, cause the Immediate eviction of some or all of such 
persons of color, and their removal from the premises. After 
the period aforesaid, they may be ejected, as is hereinafter 
provided In case of intruders. 

LXXVII. It shall be the duty of the Judge of the District 
Court, or of any Magistrate, on complaint made to him, that 
persons of color have intruded into any house or upon any 
premises, as trespassers or otherwise, or that they unlawfully 
remained therein without permission of the owner, on ascer- 
taining the complaint to be w^ell founded, to cause such persons 
to be immediately removed therefrom; and In case of the 
return of such persons, without lawful permission, the party 
so offending may be subjected to such fine and corporal pun- 
ishment as the Magistrate or District Judge may see proper 
to Impose. 

LXXVIII. During the term of service, the house occupied 
by any servant Is the master's; and, on the expiration of the 
term of service or the discharge of a servant, he shall no longer 
remain on the premises of the master; and It shall be the duty 
of the Judge of the District Court or a Magistrate on com- 
plaint of any person Interested and due proof made, to cause 
such servant to be immediately removed from such premises. 

LXXIX. Leases of a house or land to a person of color 
shall be In writing. If there be no written lease, or the term 
of lease shall have expired, the person of color in possession 
shall be a tenant at will, and shall not be entitled to notice; 
and on complaint by any person interested to the Judge of the 
District Court, or a Magistrate, such person of color shall be 



3o8 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

instantly ejected by order or warrant, unless he produce a 
written lease authorizing his possession, or prove that such 
writing existed and was lost. 

Paupers 

LXXXI. When a person of color shall be unable to earn 
his support, and is likely to become a charge to the public, the 
father and grandfathers, mother and grandmothers, child and 
grandchild, brother and sister of such person, shall, each ac- 
cording to his ability, contribute monthly, for the support of 
such poor relative, such sum as the District Judge, or one of 
the Magistrates, upon complaint to him, shall deem necessary 
and proper; and on failure to pay such sum, the same shall be 
collected by summary order or process. 

LXXXII. In each Judicial District, except the Judicial Dis- 
trict of Charleston, in which there shall be one Board for the 
Election District of Charleston, and one for the Election Dis- 
trict of Berkeley, there shall be established a Board, to be 
known as the "Board of Relief of Indigent Persons of Color," 
which shall consist of a Chairman and not less than three, nor 
more than seven other members, all of whom shall be Mag- 
istrates of the District, and be selected by the District Judge. 

LXXXV. A District Court Fund shall be established in 
each District to be composed of aids paid for the approval of 
contracts between master and servant, and of instruments of ap- 
prenticeship, and for licenses granted by the District Judge, 
all fines, penalties and forfeitures collected under order or pro- 
cess from the District Court, or a Magistrate of the District, 
fees for appeal from the District Judge, wages of convicts, and 
taxes collected under the order of the Board of Relief of In- 
digent Persons of Color. 

LXXXVI. If the District Court Fund, after the payment 
of the sums with which it is charged, on account of the salary 
of the Judge of the District Court, Superintendent of Convicts, 
Jurors and other expenses of the Court, and of convicts, shall 
be insufficient to support indigent persons of color, who may be 
proper charges on the public, the Board aforesaid shall have 
power to impose for that purpose, whenever it may be required, 



Laws Relatin g to Freed men 309 

a tax of one dollar on each male person of color between the 
ages of eighteen and fifty years, and fifty cents on each unmar- 
ried female person of color between the ages of eighteen and 
forty-five; to be collected in each precinct by a iMagistrate 
thereof: Provided, That the said imposition of a tax shall be 
approved in writing by the Judge of the District Court, and 
that his approval shall appear In the Journals of that Court. 

XCII. The Board of Relief of Indigent Persons of Color 
shall determine the sum necessary for the support of each in- 
digent person of color, who shall be deemed a proper charge 
on the public, the sum required by each precinct, the sum which 
shall be paid to each Magistrate to be disbursed by him, when 
reports from occupants as aforesaid shall be required, and when 
a tax shall be imposed. It shall direct the Magistrates respec- 
tively in the performance of the duties required of them in 
reference to paupers and the District Court Fund, and it shall 
report to the District Court all delinquencies and delinquents. 

XCIV. On satisfactory information to the District Judge, 
or a Magistrate, that a person of color has rem.oved from an- 
other district, and is likely to become a charge to the district 
into which he has removed, the District Judge, or the 
Magistrate, shall proceed against such person as a vagrant, and, 
on conviction, he shall be punished as such : Provided, hoiv- 
ever, That persons of color who were removed by their former 
masters from other districts, within the last five years, shall be 
allowed tw^elve months to return to the districts from which 
they were removed; and those who have been separated from 
their families or relatives shall be allowed to return to them 
within twelve months. 

Vagrancy and Idleness 

XCV. These are public grievances, and must be punished as 
crimes. 

XCVI. All persons who have not some fixed and known 
place of abode, and some lawful and reputable employment; 
those who have not some visible and known means of a fair, 
honest and reputable livelihood; all common prostitutes; those 
who are found wandering from place to place, vending, barter- 



310 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

ing or peddling any articles or commodities, without a license 
from a District Judge, or other proper authorities; all common 
gamblers; persons who lead idle or disorderly lives, or keep 
or frequent disorderly or disreputable houses or places; those 
who, not having sufficient means of support, are able to work 
and do not work; those who (whether or not they own lands, 
or are lessees or mechanics,) do not provide a reasonable and 
proper maintenance for themselves and families; those who 
are engaged in representing, publicly or privately, for fee or 
reward, without license, any tragedy, interlude, comedy, farce, 
play or other similar entertainment, exhibition of the circus, 
sleight-of-hand, wax works, or the like; those who, for private 
gain, without license, give any concert or musical entertain- 
ment, of any description; fortune-tellers; sturdy beggars; com- 
mon drunkards; those who hunt game of any description, or 
fish on the land of others, or frequent the premises, contrary to 
the will of the occupants, shall be deemed vagrants, and be 
liable to the punishment hereinafter described. 

XCVII. Upon information, an oath of another, or upon 
his own knowledge, the District Judge, or a Magistrate, shall 
issue a warrant for the arrest of any person of color known or 
believed to be a vagrant, within the meaning of this Act. The 
Magistrate may proceed to try, with the assistance of five free- 
holders, or calling to his aid another Magistrate, the two may 
proceed to try, with the assistance of three freeholders, as Is 
provided by the Act of seventeen hundred and eighty-seven, 
concerning vagrants; or the Magistrate may commit the ac- 
cused to be tried before the District Court. On conviction the 
defendant shall be liable to imprisonment, and to hard labor, 
one or both, as shall be fixed by the verdict, not exceeding twelve 
months. 



"Persons of Color" in Tennessee 

Laws of Tennessee, 1863-1S66, p. 65, c. 40. This act was passed by 
the Brownlow government, while the Confederates were disfran- 
chised. [May 26, 1866] 

Sec. I. Be it enacted, . . That all negroes, mulattoes, mesti- 



Laws Relating to Freedmen 311 

zoes, and their descendants, having any African blood in their 
veins, shall be known in this State as "persons of color." 

Sec. 3. . . All persons of color, being blind, deaf and 
dumb, lunatics, paupers or apprentices, shall have the full and 
perfect benefit and application of all laws regulating and pro- 
viding for white persons, being blind or deaf and dumb, or 
lunatics or paupers or either (in asylums for their benefit) and 
apprentices. 

Sec. 4. . . Provided, That nothing in this act shall be so 
construed as to admit persons of color to serve on the jury: 
Jnd provided further, That the provisions of this act shall not 
be so construed as to require the education of colored and white 
children in the same school. 



The Negro in the New Constitutions 

Constitution of Texas, adopted in 1866. This is an example of one 
of the "Johnson" state constitutions in regard to the negro. [1866] 

[Article VIIL] Sec. i. African slavery as it heretofore ex- 
isted, having been terminated within this State by the Govern- 
ment of the United States, by force of arms, and its reestablish- 
ment being prohibited by the amendment to the Constitution of 
the United States, it is declared that neither slavery nor 
involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crimes, 
whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist in 
this State; and Africans and their descendants shall be pro- 
tected in their rights of person and property by appropriate 
legislation; and shall have the right to contract and be con- 
tracted with; to sue and be sued; to acquire, hold, and transmit 
property; and all criminal prosecutions against them shall be 
conducted in the same manner as prosecutions for like offenses 
against the white race, and they shall be subject to like penalties. 
Sec. 2. Africans and their descendants shall not be pro- 
hibited, on account of their color or race, from testifying orally, 
as witnesses, in any case, civil or criminal, involving the right of 
injury to, or crime against, any of them in person or property, 
under the same rules of evidence that may be applicable to the 
white race; the credibility of their testimony to be determined 



312 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

by the court or jury hearing the same ; and the legislature shall 
have power to authorize them to testify as witnesses in all 
other cases, under such regulations as may be described, as to 
facts hereafter occurring. 

[Article X.] Sec. 7. The legislature may provide for the 
levying of a tax for educational purposes: . . Provided, That 
all the sums arising from said tax which may be collected from 
Africans, or persons of African descent, shall be exclusively 
appropriated for the maintenance of a system of public schools 
for Africans and their children; and it shall be the duty of the 
legislature to encourage schools among these people. 



V 

THE FREEDMEN'S BUREAU AND THE 
FREEDMEN'S BANK 



V 

THE FREEDMEN'S BUREAU AND THE 
FREEDMEN'S BANK 



INTRODUCTION 

A MOST important cause of the failure of the President's 
policy was the unfriendly influence of the Freedmen's Bu- 
reau. This institution was in existence before Johnson be- 
gan his work of restoration, was most active during the 
period 1865- 1867, and was practically independent of the 
President, in entire control of the blacks, and interfering 
at will with the State governments. This "Bureau of 
Freedmen, Refugees, and Abandoned Lands" was created 
by an act of Congress, March 3, 1865, to last one year, but 
was continued in full force by later acts until 1868; 
the educational department was continued until 1872. Its 
establishment was due partly to the fear entertained by the 
North that the Southerners if left to deal with the blacks 
would attempt to re-establish slavery, partly to the neces- 
sity for extending relief to needy negroes and whites in the 
devastated South, and partly to take charge of confiscated 
property. During the Civil War many negroes came 
into the Federal lines and had to be cared for. The able- 
bodied men were enlisted in the army and the women, 
children and old men were settled in large camps on con- 
fiscated Southern property, where they were cared for 
alternately by the War Department and by the Treasury 
Department until the organization of the Freedmen's 
Bureau. At the head of the Bureau was a commissioner. 
General O. O. Howard, and under him in each Southern 
state was an assistant commissioner with a corps of subor- 
dinate local agents. The officials had full authority in 

315 



3i6 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

all matters that concerned the blacks. The work of the 
Bureau may be classified as follows: (i) distribution of 
rations and medical supplies among the blacks; (2) es- 
tablishing schools for them and aiding benevolent socie- 
ties to establish schools and churches; (3) regulation of 
labor and contracts; (4) the custody of confiscated lands; 
(5) administration of justice in all cases in which blacks 
were concerned. For several years the ex-slaves were un- 
der the almost absolute control of the Bureau. Whether 
this control had a good or bad effect is still disputed, 
the Southern whites and many Northerners holding that 
the results of the Bureau's work were bad; others that it 
was distinctly good. There is now no doubt that while 
most of the higher officials of the Bureau were good men, 
the subordinate agents were generally without character 
or judgment and that their interference between the races 
caused lasting discord. Much necessary relief work was 
done, especially among the whites, but demoralization 
was also caused bv it, and later the institution was used 
by the agents as a means of securing negro votes. As to 
the Bureau's influence in educational and religious mat- 
ters. North and South have not yet agreed. The whole 
field of labor and contracts was covered by the minute 
regulations of the Bureau which, good in theory, were 
impracticable, and which failed altogether, but not until 
labor had been disorganized for several years. The ad- 
ministration of justice by the Bureau agents gradually 
became a petty persecution of the whites and bloody 
conflicts sometimes resulted. The law creating the Bu- 
reau provided for the division of the confiscated property 
among the negroes, and, though executed only in parts of 
Louisiana, South Carolina, Florida, and Georgia, caused 
the negroes to believe that they were to be cared for at 
the expense of their former masters. This belief made 
them subject to swindling schemes perpetrated by persons 



Introduction ^IJ 



who promised to secure lands for them. When negro 
suffrage was imposed by Congress upon the Southern 
states the Bureau aided the Union League in organizing 
the blacks into a political party opposed to the whites. 
Practically all the subordinate Bureau officials and sev- 
eral of the higher ones secured office through their control 
of the blacks. 

The Freedmen's Savings and Trust Company was not 
legally connected with the Bureau nor was it a govern- 
ment institution, but it was conducted mainly by Bureau 
officials, and the negro depositors became fixed in the 
belief that it was an institution of the government and 
that the latter was responsible for the loss of their savings 
entrusted to the bank. 



REFERENCES 

Depabtment of Negro Affaibs: Fleming, Civil War and Reconstruction in 
Alabama, p. 421; Garner, Reconstruction in Mississippi, p. 238; Phelps, 
Louisiana, p. 329; Pierce, Freedmen's Bureau, ch. 1, 2. 

Establishment of the Bxibeau: Burgess Reconstruction and the Con- 
stitution, p. 44; DuBois, Souls of Black Folk; Dunning, Civil War and 
Reconstruction, p. 73; Fleming, p. 423; Garner, p. 254; Herbert, The 
Solid Soiith, p. 16; Reynolds, Reconstruction in South Carolina, p. 44; 
Phelps, p. 330; Pierce, ch. 3; Wallace, Carpet Bag Rule in Florida, p. 41. 

The President's Vetoes: Burgess, p. 87; Dunning, p. 89; Rhodes, His- 
tory of the United States, vol. v, p. 571; Pierce, ch. 4. 

The Bureau and the Crv'iL Authorities: Fleming, p. 427; Garner, p. 265; 
Pierce, p. 53. 

Bureau Finances: Fleming, p. 431; Garner, p. 257; Pierce, ch. 7. 

Relief Work: DuBois, Souls of Black Folk; Fleming, p. 441; Garner, 
p. 2'59; Hollis, Reconstrxiction in South Carolina, ch. 5; Pierce, ch. 6. 

Labor Problems: Fleming, p. 433; Garner, p. 255; Pierce, ch. 8. 

Bureau Courts: Dunning, p. 141; Fleming, p. 438; Garner, p. 263; 
Herbert, pp. 118, 237; Phelps, pp. 329, 337; Pierce, ch. 8. 

Bureau Schools: DuBois, Souls of Black Folk; Fleming, p. 456; Garner, 
p. 260; Montgomery Conference, Race Problems, p. 108'; Pierce, ch. 5. 

Fbeedmen's Savings Bank: Fleming, p. 451; Herbert, p. 333; Hoffman, 
Race Traits and Tendencies, p. 289; Yale Review, May, 1906; Williams, 
History of the Negro Race, vol. ii, p. 403. 

Confiscation: Forty Acres and a Mule: Fleming, pp. 431, 446; Gar- 
ner, p. 258; North American Review, May, 1906. 

Political Activities of the Bureau: Dunning, p. 200; Fleming, pp. 557, 
567; Herbert, pp. 17, 30; Pierce, ch. 9; Wallace, p. 42. 

Results of the Butseau's Work: Avary, Dixie After the War, ch. 17, 
18; Bruce, Plantation Negro a^ a Freeman; Burgess, pp. 45, 63; Flem- 
ing, p. 444; Garner, p. 267; Herbert, pp. 16, 30, 118, 236, 356; Phelps, 
eh. 14; Wallace, p. 41. 



318 



I . LAWS RELATING TO THE BUREAU 



First Freedmen's Bureau Act 

Acts and Resolutions, 38 Cong., 2 Sess., p. 96. [March 3, 1865] 

Be it enacted . . That there is hereby established in the War 
Department, to continue during the present war of rebellion, 
and for one year thereafter, a Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, 
and Abandoned Lands, to which shall be committed, as here- 
inafter provided, the supervision and management of all 
abandoned lands, and the control of all subjects relating to 
refugees and freedmen from rebel States, or from any district 
of country within the territory embraced in the operations of 
the army, under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed 
by the head of the bureau and approved by the President. The 
said bureau shall be under the management and control of a 
commissioner, to be appointed by the President, by and with 
the advice and consent of the Senate, whose compensation shall 
be three thousand dollars per annum, and such number of 
clerks as may be assigned to him by the Secretary of War, not 
exceeding one chief clerk, two of the fourth class, two of the 
third class, and five of the first class. And the commissioner, 
and all persons appointed under this act, shall, before entering 
upon their duties, take the ["iron clad" test oath] . . and the 
commissioner and chief clerk shall, before entering upon their 
duties, give bonds to the Treasurer of the United States, the 
former in the sum of fifty thousand dollars, and the latter in 
the sum of ten thousand dollars, conditioned for the faithful 
discharge of their duties. . . 

Sec. 2. . . The Secretary of War may direct such issues 
or provisions, clothing and fuel as he may deem needful for the 
immediate and temporary shelter and supply of destitute and 
suffering refugees and freedmen, and their wives and 
children. . . 

Sec. 3. . . The President may, by and with the advice and 
consent of the Senate, appoint an assistant commissioner for 
each of the States declared to be in insurrection, not exceed- 
ing ten in number, who shall, under the direction of the com- 

319 



320 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

missioner, aid in the execution of the provisions of this act; 
and he shall give a bond to the Treasurer of the United States, 
in the sum of twenty thousand dollars. . . Each of said [as- 
sistant] commissioners shall receive an annual salary of two 
thousand five hundred dollars in full compensation for all his 
services ; and any military officer may be detailed and assigned to 
duty under this act without increase of pay or allowances. The 
commissioner shall, before the commencement of each regular 
session of Congress, make full report of his proceedings, with 
exhibits of the state of his accounts, to the President, who shall 
communicate the same to Congress, and shall also make special 
reports whenever required to do so by the President or either 
house of Congress; and the assistant commissioners shall make 
quarterly reports of their proceedings to the commissioner, and 
also such other special reports as from time to time may be 
required. 

Sec. 4. . . The commissioner, under the direction of the 
President, shall have authority to set apart, for the use of loyal 
refugees and freedmen, such tracts of lands within the insur- 
rectionary States as shall have been abandoned, or to which 
the United States shall have acquired title by confiscation or 
sale, or otherwise; and to every male citizen, whether refugee 
or freedman, as aforesaid, there shall be assigned not more than 
forty acres of such land, and the person to whom it was so 
assigned shall be protected In the use and enjoyment of the 
land for the term of three years at an annual rent not exceeding 
six per centum upon the value of such land as it was appraised 
by the State authorities in the year eighteen hundred and sixt}" 
for the purpose of taxation; and in case no such appraisal can 
be found, then the rental shall be based upon the estimated 
value of the land in said year, to be ascertained in such manner 
as the commissioner may by regulation prescribe. At the end 
of said term, or at any time during said term, the occupants of 
any parcels so assigned may purchase the land and receive such 
title thereto as the United States can convey, upon paying there- 
for the value of the land as ascertained and fixed for the pur- 
pose of determining the annual rent aforesaid. 



Laws Relating to the Bureau 321 

Second Freedmen's Bureau Act 

Acts and Resolutions, 39 Cong., 1 Sess., p. 191. A much more 
stringent bill was passed and vetoed by the President. It failed 
to pass over the veto. This act was also vetoed but was passed 
over the veto. [juiy le, is66] 

Be it enacted . . That the act to establish a Bureau for the 
relief of Freedmen and Refugees, approved March third, 
eighteen hundred sixty-five, shall continue in force for the term 
of two years from and after the passage of this act. 

Sec. 2. . . The supervision and care of said bureau shall ex- 
tend to all loyal refugees and freedmen, so far as the same may 
be necessary to enable them as speedily as practicable to become 
self-supporting citizens of the United States, and to aid them 
in making the freedom conferred by the proclamation of the 
Commander-in-Chief, by emancipation under the laws of the 
States, and by constitutional amendment, available to them and 
beneficial to the Republic, 

Sec. 3. . . The President shall, by and with the consent 
of the Senate, appoint two assistant commissioners, in addition 
to those authorized by the act to which this is an amendment, 
who shall give like bonds and receive the same annual salaries 
provided In said act; and each of the assistant commissioners of 
the bureau shall have charge of the district containing such 
refugees or freedmen, to be assigned him by the Commissioner, 
wuth the approval of the President. And the Commissioner 
shall, under the direction of the President, and so far as the 
same shall be, In his judgment, necessary for the efficient and 
economical administration of the affairs of the bureau, ap- 
point such agents, clerks and assistants as may be required 
for the proper conduct of the bureau. Military officers or 
enlisted men may be detailed for service and assigned to duty 
under this act; and the President may, if in his judgment safe 
and judicious so to do, detail from the Army all the officers and 
agents of the bureau; but no officer so assigned shall have in- 
crease of pay or allowances. Each agent or clerk, not hereto- 
fore authorized by law, not being a military officer, shall have 
an annual salary of not less than $500, nor more than $1,200, 
according to the service required of him. And It shall be the 
dutv of the Commissioner, when it can be done consistently with 



J22 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

the public Interest, to appoint, as assistant commissioners, 
agents, and clerks, such men as have proved their loyalty by 
faithful service In the armies of the Union during the rebellion. 
And all persons appointed to service under this act and the act 
to which this Is an amendment, shall be so far deemed In the 
military service of the United States as to be under the military 
jurisdiction and entitled to the military protection of the 
Government while In the discharge of the duties of their office. 

Sec. 4. . . The officers of the Veteran Reserve Corps or 
of the volunteer service, now on duty In the Freedmen's Bureau 
as assistant commissioners, agents, medical officers, or in 
other capacities, whose regiments or corps have been or may 
hereafter be mustered out of service, may be retained upon such 
duty as officers of said bureau, with the same compensation as 
is now provided by law for their respective grades; and the 
Secretary of War shall have power to fill vacancies until other 
officers can be detailed In their places without detriment to the 
public service. 

Sec. 5. . . The second section of the act to which this Is 
an amendment shall be deemed to authorize the Secretary of 
War to issue such medical stores or other supplies and trans- 
portation and afford such medical or other aid as may be needful 
for the purposes named in said section : Provided, that no 
person shall be deemed "destitute," "suffering," or "dependent 
upon the Government for support," within the meaning of this 
act, who is able to find employment, and could, by proper in- 
dustry and exertion, avoid such destitution, suffering, or de- 
pendency. 

Sec. 6. . . Whereas, by the provisions of [an act of Febru- 
ary 6, 1863] certain lands In the parishes of St. Helena and 
St. Luke, South Carolina, were bid in by the United States at 
public tax sales, and by limitation of said act the time of re- 
demption of said lands has expired; and whereas. In accordance 
with Instructions issued by President Lincoln on [September 16, 
1863] to the United States direct tax commissioners of South 
Carolina, certain lands bid in by the United States In the parish 
of St. Helena, In said State, were In part sold by the said tax 



Laws Relating to the Bureau 323 

commissioners to "heads of families of the African race," in 
parcels of not more than twenty acres to each purchaser; and 
whereas, under the said instructions, the said tax commissioners 
did also set apart as "school farms" certain parcels of land in 
said parish, numbered on their plats from one to thirty-three in- 
clusive, making an aggregate of six thousand acres, more or less : 
Therefore, be it further enacted, That the sales made to "heads 
of families of the African race," under the instructions of Presi- 
dent Lincoln to the United States direct tax commissioners for 
South Carolina, . . are hereby confirmed and established; and 
all leases which have been made to such "heads of families" by 
said direct tax commissioners, shall be changed into certificates 
of sale in all cases wherein the lease provides for such substi- 
tution ; and all the lands now remaining unsold, which come 
within the same designation, being eight thousand acres, more 
or less, shall be disposed of according to said instructions. 

Sec. 7. . . All other lands bid in by the United States at tax 
sales, being thirty-eight thousand acres, more or less, and now 
in the hands of the said tax commissioners as the property of 
the United States, in the parishes of St. Helena and St. Luke, 
excepting the "school farms," as specified in the preceding 
section, and so much as may be necessary for military and naval 
purposes at Hilton Head, Bay Point, and Land's End, and 
excepting also the city of Port Royal on St. Helena island, and 
the town of Beaufort, shall be disposed of in parcels of twenty 
acres, at one dollar and fifty cents per acre, to such persons, and 
to such only, as have acquired and are now occupying lands 
under and agreeably to the provisions of General Sherman's 
special field order, dated at Savannah, Georgia, [January 16, 
1865] and the remaining lands. If any, shall be disposed of in 
like manner to such persons as had acquired lands agreeably to 
the said order of General Sherman but who hav^e been dispos- 
sessed by the restoration of the same to former owners: Provid- 
ed, That the lands sold in compliance with the provisions of this 
and the preceding section shall not be alienated by their pur- 
chasers within six years from and after the passage of this act. 

Sec. 8. . . The "school farms" . . shall be sold, . . and 
the proceeds of said sales . . shall be invested in United 



324 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

States bonds, the interest of which shall be appropriated, under 
the direction of the Commissioner, to the support of schools, 
without distinction of color or race, on the islands in the 
parishes of St. Helena and St. Luke. 

Sec. 9. . . The assistant commissioners for South Caro- 
lina and Georgia are hereby authorized to examine all claims 
to lands in their respective States which are claimed under the 
provisions of General Sherman's special field order, and to give 
each person having a valid claim a warrant upon the direct tax 
commissioners for South Carolina for twenty acres of land; and 
the said direct tax commissioners shall issue to every person, 
or to his or her heirs, but in no case to any assigns, presenting 
such warrant, a lease of twenty acres of land, as provided for 
in section seven, for the term of six years ; but at any time there- 
after, upon the payment of a sum not exceeding one dollar and 
fifty cents per acre, the person holding such lease shall be 
entitled to a certificate of sale of said tract of twenty acres from 
the direct tax commissioner or such officer as may be authorized 
to issue the same; but no warrant shall be held valid longer 
than two years after the issue of the same. 

Sec. 10. . . The tax commissioners for South Carolina are 
hereby authorized and required, at the earliest day practicable, 
to survey the lands designated in section seven into lots of 
twenty acres each, with proper metes and bounds distinctly 
marked, so that the several tracts shall be convenient in form, 
and as near as practicable have an average of fertility and 
woodland. . . 

Sec. II. . . Restoration of lands occupied by freedmen 
under General Sherman's field order dated at Savannah, 
Georgia, [January 16, 1865] shall not be made until after the 
crops of the present year shall have been gathered by the occu- 
pants of said lands, nor until a fair compensation shall have 
been made to them by the former owners of such lands, or their 
legal representatives, for all improvements or betterments 
erected or constructed thereon, and after due notice of the 
same being done shall have been given by the assistant com- 
missioner. 



Laws Relating to the Bureau 325 

Sec. 12. . . The Commissioner shall have power to seize, 
hold, use, lease, or sell all buildings, and tenements, and any 
lands appertaining to the same, or other^Yise, formerly held 
under color of title ty the late so-called Confederate States, 
and not heretofore disposed of by the United States, and any 
buildings or lands held in trust for the same by any person or 
persons, and to use the same or appropriate the proceeds de- 
rived therefrom to the education of the freed people; and 
whenever the bureau shall cease to exist, such of said so-called 
Confederate States as shall have made provision for the educa- 
tion of their citizens without distinction of color shall receive the 
sum remaining unexpended of such sales or rentals, which shall 
be distributed among said States for educational purposes in 
proportion to their population. 

Sec. 13. . . The Commissioner of this bureau shall at all 
times co-operate with private benevolent associations of citi- 
zens in aid of freecimen, and Avith agents and teachers, duly 
accredited and appointed by them., and shall hire or provide by 
lease, buildings for purposes of education whenever such asso- 
ciations shall, without cost to the Government, provide suitable 
teachers and means of Instruction; and he shall furnish such 
protection as may be required for the safe conduct of such 
schools. 

Sec. 14. . . In every State or district when the ordinary 
course of judicial proceedings has been interrupted by the rebel- 
lion, and until the same shall be fully restored, and in every 
State or district whose constitutional relations to the Govern- 
ment have been practically discontinued by the rebellion, and 
until such State shall have been restored in such relations, and 
shall be duly represented in the Congress of the United States, 
the right to make and enforce contracts, to sue, be parties, and 
give evidence, to Inherit, purchase, lease, sell, hold, and convey 
real and personal property, and to have full and equal benefit 
of all laws and proceedings concerning personal liberty, personal 
security, and the acquisition, enjoyment, and disposition of 
estate, real and personal, Including the constitutional right to 
bear arms, shall be secured to and enjoyed by all the citizens of 
such State or district without respect to race or color, or previous 



326 Dociunentary History of Reconstruction 

condition of slavery. And whenever in either of said States 
or districts the ordinary course of judicial proceedings has been 
interrupted by the rebellion, and until the same shall be fully 
restored, and until such State shall have been restored to its 
constitutional relations to the Government, and shall be duly 
represented in the Congress of the United States, the 
President shall, through the Commissioner and the officers 
of the bureau, and under such rules and regulations as the Presi- 
dent, through the Secretary of War, shall prescribe, extend 
military protection and have military jurisdiction over all cases 
and questions concerning the free enjoyment of such immunities 
and rights; and no penalty or punishment for any violation of 
law shall be imposed or permitted because of race or color, or 
previous condition of slavery, other or greater than the penalty 
or punishment to which the white persons may be liable by law 
for the like offense. But the jurisdiction conferred by this sec- 
tion upon the officers of the bureau shall not exist in any State 
where the ordinary course of judicial proceedings has not been 
interrupted by the rebellion, and shall cease in every State when 
the courts of the State and the United States are not disturbed 
in the peaceable course of justice, and after such State shall 
be fully restored in its constitutional relations to the Govern- 
ment, and shall be duly represented in the Congress of the 
United States. 

Sec. 15. . . That all officers, agents, and employees of this 
bureau, before entering upon the duties of their office, shall take- 
the ["iron clad" test oath]. 



2. OFFICIAL REGULATIONS AND REPORTS 



The Army and the Freedmen 

Circular of General Schofield, commanding the Army of the Ohio 
and the Department of North Carolina. These are typical of the 
rules laid down in every Southern state by the army before the 
Bureau went into effect. [May 15, 18'65] 

The following rules are published for the government of freed- 
men in North Carolina until the restoration of civil govern- 
ment in the State : 

1 . The common laws governing the domestic relations, such 
as those giving parents authority and control over their children, 
and guardians control over their wards, are in force. The 
parent's or guardian's authority and obligations take the place 
of those of the former master. 

2. The former masters are constituted the guardians of 
minors, and of the aged and infirm, in the absence of parents or 
other near relatives capable of supporting them. 

3. Young men and women under twenty-one years of age, 
remain under the control of their parents or guardians until 
they become of age, thus aiding to support their parents and 
younger brothers and sisters. 

4. The former masters of freedmen may not turn away 
the young or the infirm, nor refuse to give them food and 
shelter; nor may the able-bodied men or women go away 
from their homes, or live in idleness, and leave their parents, 
children, or young brothers and sisters to be supported by 
others. 

5. Persons of age, who are free from any of the obligations 
referred to above, are at liberty to find new homes wherever 
they can obtain proper employment; but they will not be sup- 
ported by the Government, nor by their former masters, unless 
they work. 

6. It will be left to the employer and servant to agree upon 
the wages to be paid; but freedmen are advised that for the 
present season they ought to expect only moderate wages, and 
where their employers cannot pay them money they ought to 
be contented with a fair share of the crops to be raised. They 

327 



328 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

have gained their personal freedom. By industiy and good 
conduct they may rise to independence and wealth. 

7. All officers, soldiers, and citizens are requested to give 
publicity to the rules, and to instruct the freed people as to 
their new rights and obligations. 

8. All officers of the army, and of the county police com- 
panies, are authorized and required to correct any violation of 
the above rules within their jurisdiction. 

9. Each district commander will appoint a superintendent 
of freedmen (a commissioned officer), with such number of 
assistants (officers and non-commissioned officers) as may be 
necessary, whose duty it will be to take charge of all the freed 
people in his district who are without homes or proper employ- 
ment. The superintendents will send back to their homes all 
who have left them In violation of the above rules, and will 
endeavor to find homes and suitable employment for all others. 
They will provide suitable camps or quarters for such as can- 
not be otherwise provided for, and attend to their discipline, 
police, subsistence, etc. 

10. The superintendents will hear all complaints of guard- 
ians or wards, and report the facts to their district commanders, 
who are authorized to dissolve the existing relations of guardian 
and ward in any case which may seem to require it, and to direct 
the superintendent to otherwise provide for the wards. In ac- 
cordance with the above rules. 



Rules and Regulations for Assistant Commissioners 

House Ex. Doc. no. 11, 39 Cong., 1 Sess., p. 45. Howard's regular 
tions. Approved June 2, 1865, by President Johnson. [May 30, 1865] 

I. The headquarters of the Assistant Commissioners will, for 
the present, be established as follows, viz : for Virginia, at Rich- 
mond, Va.; for North Carolina, at Raleigh, N. C; for South 
Carolina and Georgia, at Beaufort, S. C. ; for Alabama, at 
Montgomery, Ala.; for Kentucky and Tennessee, at Nash- 
ville, Tenn. ; for Missouri and Arkansas, at St. Louis, Mo.; 
for Mississippi, at Vicksburg, Miss.; for Louisiana, at New 
Orleans, La.; for Florida, at Jacksonville, Fla. . . 



Official Regulations and Reports 329 

III. Relief establishments will be discontinued as speedily 
as the cessation of hostilities and the return of industrial pur- 
suits will permit. Great discrimination will be observed in 
administering relief, so as to include none that are not absolutely 
necessitous and destitute. 

IV. Every effort v/ill be made to render the people self- 
supporting. Government supplies will only be temporarily is- 
sued to enable destitute persons speedily to support themselves, 
and exact accounts must be kept with each individual or com- 
munity, and held as a lien upon their crops. . . The com- 
missioners are especially to remember that their duties are to 
enforce, with reference to these classes, the laws of the United 
States. 

V. Loyal refugees, who have been driven from their homes 
will, on their return, be protected from abuse, and the calam- 
ities of their situation relieved as far as possible. If destitute, 
they will be aided with transportation, and food when deemed 
expedient, while in transitu, returning to their former homes. . . 

VII. In all places where there is an interruption of civil 
law, or in which local courts, by reason of old codes, in violation 
of the freedom guaranteed by the proclamation of the Presi- 
dent and laws of Congress, disregard the negro's right to justice 
before the laws in not allowing him to give testimony, the con- 
trol of all subjects relating to refugees and freedmen being 
committed to this bureau, the Assistant Commissioners will ad- 
judicate, either themselves or through officers of their appoint- 
ment, all difficulties arising between negroes themselves, or be- 
tween negroes and whites or Indians, except those in military 
service, so far as recognizable by military authority, and not 
taken cognizance of by the other tribunals, civil or military, of 
the United States. 

VIII. Negroes must be free to choose their own employers, 
and be paid for their labor. Agreements should be free, bona 
fide acts, approved by proper officers, and their inviolability en- 
forced on both parties. The old system of overseers, tending 
to compulsory unpaid labor and acts of cruelty^ and oppression 
is prohibited. The unity of families, and all the rights of the 
family relation, will be carefully guarded. In places where the 



330 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

local statutes make no provisions for the marriage of persons of 
color, the Assistant Commissioners are authorized to designate 
officers who shall keep a record of marriages, which may be 
solemnized by any ordained minister of the gospel, who shall 
make a return of the same, with such items as may be required 
for registration at places designated by the Assistant Commis- 
sioner. Registrations already made by the United States 
officers will be carefully preserved. 

IX. Assistant Commissioners will Instruct their receiving 
and disbursing officers to make requisitions upon all officers, 
civil or military, in charge of funds, abandoned lands, &c., with- 
in their respective territories, to turn over the same in accord- 
ance with the orders of the President. They will direct their 
medical officers to ascertain the facts and necessities connected 
with the medical treatment and sanitary condition of refugees 
and freedmen. They will Instruct their teachers to collect the 
facts In reference to the progress of the work of education, and 
aid It with as few changes as possible to the close of the present 
season. During the school vacations of the hot months, special 
attention will be given to the provision for the next year. 

X. Assistant Commissioners will aid refugees and freedmen 
in securing titles to land according to law. This may be done 
for them as individuals or by encouraging joint companies. 



Instructions to Assistant Commissioners 

House Ex. Doc. no. 11. 39 Cong.. 1 Sess., p. 49. Circular instruc- 
tions sent out by General Howard. [July 12, 1865] 

Each Assistant Commissioner will be careful, in the establish- 
ment of sub-districts, to have the office of his agent at some 
point easy of access for the people of the sub-district. 

He will have at least one agent, either a citizen, military 
officer, or enlisted man, in each sub-district. This agent must 
be thoroughly instructed in his duties. He will be furnished 
with the proper blanks for contracts, and will institute methods 
adequate to meet the wants of his district in accordance with the 
rules of this bureau. No fixed rates of wages will be prescribed 
for a district, but in order to regulate fair wages In given in- 



Oficial Regulations and Reports 331 

dividual cases the agent should have in mind minimum rates for 
his own guidance. By careful inquiry as to the hire of an able- 
bodied man when the pay went to the master, he will have an 
approximate test of the value of labor. He must of course 
consider the entire change of circumstances, and be sure that the 
laborer has due protection against avarice and extortion. Wages 
had better be secured by a lien on the crops or land. Einployers 
are desired to enter into written agreements with employes, 
setting forth stated wages, or securing an interest in the land 
or crop, or both. All such agreements will be approv^ed by the 
nearest agent, and a duplicate filed in his office. . . 

In order to enforce the fulfilment of contracts on both con- 
tracting parties, the Commissioner of the bureau lays down no 
general rule — the Assistant Commissioner must use the 
privileges and authority he already has. Provost courts, mili- 
tary commissions, local courts, where the freedmen and refugees 
have equal rights with other people, are open to his use. In 
the great majority of cases his own arbitrament, or that of his 
agent, or the settlement by referees, will be sufficient. 

No Assistant Commissioner, or agent. Is authorized to 
tolerate compulsory unpaid labor, except for the legal punish- 
ment of crime. Suffering may result to some extent, but suffer- 
ing is preferred to slavery, and is to some degree the necessary 
consequence of events. 

In all actions the officer should never forget that no substi- 
tute for slavery, like apprenticeship without proper consent, or 
peonage, (I. e., either holding the people by debt, or confining 
them, without consent, to the land by any system,) will be 
tolerated. 

The Assistant Commissioner will designate one or more of 
his agents to act as the general superintendent of schools (one 
for each State) for refugees and freedmen. This officer will 
work as much as possible In conjunction with State officers who 
may have school matters In charge. If a general system can 
be adopted for a State, It Is well; but If not, he will at least take 
cognizance of all that is being done to educate refugees and 
freedmen, secure proper protection to schools and teachers, pro- 
mote method and efficiency, correspond with the benevolent 



332 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

agencies which are supplying his field, and aid the Assistant 
Commissioner in making his required reports. . . 

All public addresses of a character calculated to create dis- 
content are reprehensible; but the Assistant Commissioner and 
his agents must explain, by constant recapitulation, the princi- 
ples, laws, and regulations of this bureau to all parties con- 
cerned. It is recommended to the Assistant Commissioners to 
draw up in writing a careful summary to be publicly and pri- 
vately read by agents throughout their respective districts. 



The Bureau and the Laws of theStates 

Hotise Ex. Doc. no. 10, 39 Cong., 1 8ess., p. 52. Howard's circular 
letter to assistant commissioners. [October 4, 1865] 

State laws with regard to apprenticeship will be recognized 
by this bureau, provided they make no distinction of color; or 
In case they do so, the said laws applying to white children will 
be extended to the colored. 

Officers of this bureau are regarded as guardians of orphans 
and minors of freedmen within their respective districts. 

The principle to be adhered to with regard to paupers is, 
that each county, parish, township, or City shall care for and 
provide for its own poor. 

Vagrant laws made for free people and now in force on the 
statute-books of the States embraced in the operations of this 
bureau, will be recognized and extended to the freedmen. 



Regulation of Labor Contracts 

House Ex. Doc. no. 10, ?>9 Cong., 1 Sess., p. 30. Issued by General 
A. Baird, New Orleans, Louisiana. [December 4, 1865] 

I. . . All contracts for labor should be made in triplicate, 
and should be approved by the agent of this bureau for the 
parish in which the parties reside ; one copy to be retained by the 
employer, and the other two copies sent to this office — one to 
be forwarded to Washington. 

Contracts made otherwise than as thus prescribed will not be 
regarded as binding by the Bureau, nor as meriting its inter- 



Official Regulations and Reports 333 

ference to enforce them, unless for the protection of the 
laborer, 

11. As far as practicable, all members of the same family 
should contract conjointly for their labor, so that the number of 
useful hands and the number of the Infirm who have to be 
supported may be regarded in fixing the rate of pay. The labor 
of minor children to be contracted for by their parents or guard- 
ian, and, In the absence of either, by the agent of this bureau. . . 

IV. Twenty-six days of ten hours each in summer, and nine 
hours In winter, between the hours of daylight and dark, shall 
be considered a month. 

V. Any work In excess of this will be considered as extra 
labor, and six hours will be considered as an equivalent for a 
day's work, and fractional parts of the six hours will be paid for 
at the same rate. 

VI. Laborers working extra time will be allowed a half 
ration extra for each and every six hour's labor performed. 

VII. In addition to the monthly wages paid to laborers, 
good and wholesome rations, comfortable clothing and quarters, 
medical attendance and just treatment, and the opportunity for 
Instruction of children will be furnished free of charge; but 
the rations, clothing and quarters, fuel, and all other privileges 
granted by the employer, are part of the consideration which 
he pays for the services of the laborer, and are as really and 
fully wages as the money contracted to be paid, and are always 
taken into account In fixing the amount of money wages to be 
paid. 

VIII. The Sabbath day being set apart for the worship 
of God, no laborer will be required to perform any work on 
that day, except works of necessity or mercy. 

IX. The ration furnished to laborers shall be as follows: 
One peck of corn meal and five pounds of pork or bacon per 
week, and the money value of this ration will be taken into 
the account In fixing the rate of wages to be paid. 

X. The allowance of clothing will be two summer and one 
winter suit for each laborer or member of the family, or cloth- 
ing may be commuted at the rate of three dollars per month 



334 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

for first-class hands, two and one-half dollars per month for 
second and third class hands, and one and one-half dollar per 
month for children, at the option of the laborer. 

XL Quarters shall be such as to protect the laborer and his 
family from the inclemency of the weather, and must contain 
accommodations for cooking, and, in addition, one-half acre 
of land, contiguous to the houses, will be set apart for each 
family for garden purposes. 

XII. Should the contracting parties prefer It, the laborers 
can engage to furnish their own food and clothing, their wages 
to be regulated accordingly. These supplies may be purchased 
from the employer, who must, if he undertakes to supply his 
hands, in all cases, keep a regular book account for each hand, 
and sell at usual market rates, which accounts must be open at 
all times to the Inspection of the agents of this bureau. This 
mode of contract is recommended to the freedmen. Should 
they desire to contract for a certain portion of the crop, they 
can do so, and the employer, in all contracts of this kind, will 
be required to comply with section XVII of this circular, and 
also to pay over to the agent of this bureau one-twentieth of the 
value of the laborer's share of said crop monthly, or when- 
ever demanded, for school purposes; this estimate to be based 
on the average production of the land under cultivation. 

XIII. Five per cent, of the monthly wages of the laborers 
will be retained in the hands of the employer, and paid over, 
when demanded, to the agent authorized to receive It, to be used 
for the purpose of sustaining schools for the education of the 
children of the freedmen, and for no other purpose; and If not 
demanded for the purpose designated during the year, the 
amount so retained will be paid over to the laborer at the 
settlement of his account. One-half of the balance of the 
monthly wages will be paid to the laborer on the last day of 
each month, and the remaining one-half will be retained by the 
employer until the contract is fulfilled, w^hen it will be paid 
over to the laborer. 

XIV. Should the laborer refuse to do the work contracted 
for, or should he leave the plantation or place on which, or 



O facial Regulat io7is and Reports 335 

employer for whom, he has engaged to work, for the purpose 
of avoiding labor, without just cause or provocation, which 
will be determined by the agent of the bureau for the parish 
in which he resides, upon application — and failure to make 
application for redress by the laborer will be considered as 
prima fade evidence against him — he shall forfeit all wages 
that may be due him at the time of leaving to his employer; 
and should he refuse after having voluntarily entered into an 
agreement to labor, or fail to comply with, and be governed 
by, such ordinary and reasonable rules as may be adopted by 
his employer for the systematic carrying on of his bus- 
iness, or fail in any way to be a good and faithful laborer, 
according to his contract, or be wanting in due respect and 
obedience to his employer or his family, in the performance of 
his or their duties, he may be discharged, and obliged to remove 
his family from the premises of his employer. . . For failure 
to be at the appointed place of labor at the usual hour of com- 
mencing work, unless in case of sickness, the employer may de- 
duct twice the amount of money wages for the time lost, to 
compensate for clothing and rations, as well as lost time. 

XV. Planters and others employing labor will, Vv'hen the 
nature of their business requires that work be performed at 
night and on Sundays, during certain periods, distinctly specify 
in the contract that the employes agree to do such work at 
such times as it may be required — the consideration for which 
must be distinctly stated in the agreement. 

XVI. No restraints or disabilities shall be imposed upon 
freedmen that are not imposed upon white men. . . 

XVII. Should the agent deem it necessary, he will require 
the employer to give security that the requisite amount of pro- 
vision to furnish the laborers with the specified ration shall be 
on hand on the plantation from month to month for issue or 
sale to the laborers and their families, as the terms of their 
contract may require. The rations and clothing specified in the 
order will be the minimum that will be regarded by the bureau 
as sufficient food and comfortable clothing. 

XVIII. Employers can adopt rules for systematizing the 



336 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

work on their plantations or elsewhere, which rules and regu- 
lations shall be read In the presence of the laborers previous 
to contracting, and which, If assented to, shall be made part 
of the agreement, and be binding upon both parties. And 
the parties may agree upon a system of fines for violation of 
these rules, which fines shall constitute a fund to be distributed 
among the laborers who have not been delinquent; and in case 
there are none such, to be paid over to the agent of this bureau 
to be applied to the support of the freedmen's school. 

XIX. All crops and property on any plantation where 
laborers are employed will be held to be covered by a lien 
against all other creditors to the extent of the wages due em- 
ployes, and such lien will follow such crops and property In 
any and all hands until such labor Is fully paid and satisfied. 

XX. For the purpose of reimbursing to the United States 
some portion of the expenses of this system, and of supporting 
the aged, infirm, and helpless, the following tax will be col- 
lected: 

For each planter, for every hand employed by him between 
the ages of eighteen and fifty, one dollar per annum. 



Advice to Texas Planters 

House Ex. Doc. no. 10. 39 Cong., 1 Sess., p. 147. General E. M. 
Gregory's circular No. 1, Galveston. [October 12, 1865] 

Every just encouragement will be rendered the planter to 
assist him to adapt himself to the new condition of labor. It 
is essential for his success to accord to the negro all the rights 
of a freedman, and to meet him in the true spirit of justice and 
kindness; then there will be no difficulty to control the labor. 
The day of the lash and corporeal punishment is past, and 
must give way to law and moral power; man must learn to 
govern himself before he can expect to govern others; let 
every one practically realize that slavery Is dead, past resurrec- 
tion, and adverse to the spirit of the age and the decrees of a 
free people ; therefore, let no man be deceived. 



Official Regulations and Reports 337 

Advice to White and Black 

House Ex. Doc. no 70, 39 Cong., 1 Sess.. p. 154. Colonel Samuel 
Thomas's circular No. 7. Vicksburg, Mississippi. Colonel Thom- 
as issued many long circulars of advice. [July 29, 1S65] 

I. The officers of the Freedmen's Bureau in the State of 
Mississippi will use all practicable means to make known the 
contents of this circular to the freed people under their care. 
Meetings of the colored people are recommended, at which the 
circular may be read and explained. Copies of it ought to be 
placed In the hands of intelligent preachers and other colored 
men, who will assist in making It known. The aid of teachers 
and other friends of the colored people may be secured. 

II. By the proclamation of the President sanctioned by 
Congress the colored people are free. The result of the war, 
In which so many colored men have taken an honorable part, 
confirms their freedom. If in any place they are still held and 
treated as slaves, it is an outrage. To prevent such a wrong, 
and to secure to them protection the Bureau of Freedmen has 
been established, and Its officers placed throughout the district. 
All colored people have a right and are invited to go to these 
officers for advice and protection whenev^er they think them- 
selves wronged. The officers ask for the confidence of the 
colored people. Whenever the State laws and courts do not 
do justice to the colored man, by refusing the testimony of 
colored witnesses, or in any other way, the freed people must 
apply to the nearest officer of the Bureau ; he will tell what Is to 
be done in each case. The freedmen must not attempt to take 
the law into their own hands, or to right themselves by any 
kind of violence, carrying off property, or the like. White men 
will sometimes trespass upon a black man's rights or commit 
acts of personal violence, and then try to shield themselves 
under the plea that there is nothing but negro testimony against 
them. The officers of the Bureau have power to take up all 
such cases, and to admit the negro testimony, and the colored 
people must seek their remedy by going to these officers. . . 

IV. They who have come out of slavery must exercise 
patience. No great change like that from slavery to freedom 
can be made to work perfectly at once. They must remember 



33^ Documentary History of Reconstruction 

that they cannot have rights without duties. Freedom does not 
mean the right to live without work at other people's expense, 
but means that each man shall enjoy the fair fruit of his labor. 
A man who can work has no right to a support by government 
or by charity. The issue of rations to colored people by the 
government during the war was an act of humanity, because 
they were driven from their work, forsaken by their old mas- 
ters, and left without food. This Is not the case now. The 
means and opportunity to make a respectable living are within 
the reach of every colored man in this State. No really respec- 
table person wishes to be supported by others. Let each one 
patiently do what is right, and then It will be easy to secure 
them w^hat is right from others. Many say the negro will never 
work except as a slave. The negro has It within his power 
to contradict this saying most effectually. Let him work, and 
his rights will soon be secure. 

V. The colored people have behaved. In some respects, 
remarkably well. They have not, in more than a few instances, 
shown spite toward their late owners. It Is far better that 
they should not. They can lose nothing by treating them 
respectfully. Where they have been well treated, and their 
late owners are disposed to give them their old quarters and 
fair wages, it will often be best for them to continue at the old 
place. A good master is likely to prove a good employer, and 
is to be treated with respect and affection. Where they know 
a white man to be tyrannical and unjust they will naturally 
avoid him, which they have a clear right to do. But this Is 
all they need to do. They must not go back to take revenge for 
the past. Leave the unjust and violent white man to suffer 
for want of laborers; that is enough. 

VL The freed people must have schools. If they are not 
educated they will be at a constant disadvantage with white 
men. Where we have had schools it has been proved that the 
colored children can learn easily. Teachers will be sent to 
every place where they can be protected and sustained. But 
the government will not pay the teachers, and the benevolence 
of the north may not be able to support so many as will be 
needed. The colored people ought to aid. . . If they prefer 



Ofjicial Regula tions and Reports 339 

it at any place, they might agree to be taxed according to their 
incomes, and take measures, in consultation with the officers of 
the bureau, to collect the tax themselves, and pay it over to the 
officers, who will use it for the schools and give account to all 
concerned. 

VII. Regular lawful marriage is a most important thing. 
No people can ever be good and great, nor even respectable, if 
the men and women, "take up together" without being mar- 
ried, and change from one to another and quarrel and part 
whenever the fancy takes them. Sin and shame of this class 
always destroys a people if not repented of. If slavery caused 
a bad state of things in this respect among the colored people, 
freedom ought to produce a better. Let the evils of slavery 
die with it. Regularly ordained colored ministers, who have 
so much education that they can make the certificate of mar- 
riage properly, may be authorized to solemnize mxarriage. All 
white ministers, qualified and willing, may have the same au- 
thority. And where there are no such ministers within reach, 
the commissioned officers of the Freedmen's Bureau can offi- 
ciate. The people who have lived together without being 
married ought to come up and be married, for the sake of 
example. Let no woman consent to live with a man at all who 
will not at once marry her. LTnfaithfulness to the marriage 
relation is such a sin and shame that it ought not to be heard 
of among free people. When such cases occur the parties 
against whom offenses are committed should complain to the 
officers of the bureau. If they do not do it, the colored preach- 
ers, and any persons who desire order and purity to prevail, 
ought to bring such cases to the notice of the officers. 

VIII. By the blessing of God a great deal may be done to 
establish justice, to enlighten and raise the people, and to 
secure the w'elfare of all classes in this State, if all will co- 
operate in the work. The freed people ought themselves to 
aid the officers in every way. It is their duty to do so. They 
owe it to the government, that has freed them and called this 
whole organization into existence for their benefit and protec- 
tion, to do all in their powder for its success. Let them be 



340 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

industrious and frugal. Slavery has not taught them econ- 
omy, but, on the contrary, has tended to make them extrav- 
agant and thoughtless. Having had no interest in the suc- 
cess of labor, the preservation of property, or even the care 
of their own persons, they have contracted habits in many cases 
which, if not corrected, will degrade and ruin them. The 
dress, habits, language, and thoughts of slavery must be thrown 
off. That which was forced upon them in slavery does not 
becom.e them now. Let them act their part well, work for 
their living, and avoid all wrong courses, and all will be well. 



The Bureau in Louisiana 

House Ex. Doc. no. 70, 39 Cong.. 1 Sess., pp. 394, 395, 402. Report 
of Gen. J. S. Fullerton who succeeded Chaplain T. W. Conway as 
assistant commissioner in Louisiana. [December 2, 1865] 

On the part of some agents there has been a want of tact, con- 
ciliation, and sound judgment. Their prejudices so blinded 
them that they could not properly approach the people with 
whom they had to deal, and it appears as though they went to 
the south to foster disunion, rather than to cure and heal. 
In many cases they have produced inveterate enmity between 
the whites and the blacks, instead of bringing about the good 
understanding and respect that their mutual interests require. 

They would listen to the story or complaint of the black 
man alone, refusing to hear his white neighbor on the same 
subject, or if they did listen, with the determination not to 
believe. . . 

I thought it to be of the utmost importance that the freed- 
men should work during the coming year, not only for their 
own benefit, but for the good of the planters and the country 
at large. It is also necessary that they should do so in order 
to give the denial to the prophecy of those friends of slavery 
who continually insist that the negro will not work if free. . . 
Many of the freedmen having been thus plainly informed of 
what is expected of them, soon showed a disposition to work 
under contracts for the next year, and the planters, acting under 
the belief that the evil complained of would, in a great m^easure, 



Official Regulations and Reports 341 

no longer exist, at once commenced to engage their services. 
The scarcity of labor and the large profits that can be made 
on the crops of Louisiana have caused a great demand for 
labor in that State. All of the able-bodied freedmen, if they 
will consent to work can obtain employment at good wages, 
and there will still be room for many more laborers. Many 
planters called on me during the last week of my stay in the 
State to obtain information as to how and where they could 
obtain hands, and offered for them good inducements. Some 
went to Texas and some to Mississippi [for hands]. 

In my administration of freedmen's affairs in Louisiana I 
acted upon the broad democratic idea that there should be 
the same code of laws for all; that every exceptional law or 
regulation for the black man is but a recognition of the spirit 
of slavery. The steps that I took were necessary to annihi- 
late the distinction of that caste which sprung from slavery. 
Laws of the State made to govern the white man, while the 
freedman was in a state of slavery, surely could not be too 
hard upon him when freed and admitted to the benefits and 
penalties of the sam.e. But there were men who had such a 
tender regard for the freedmen, that while they were willing 
that they should accept the benefits of State laws, cried down 
as an outrage any attempt to render him liable to the penalties 
of the same. Thus when I attempted to show officially that 
the freedmen could be arrested as vagrants, or apprenticed, in 
accordance with the laws that were equally binding upon all 
free persons, these men were ready to express great indigna- 
tion at the wickedness and enormity of such proceedings. The 
idea was constantly held out to the freedmen that they were 
a privileged people, to be pampered and petted by the gov- 
ernment, and the effect was most pernicious. It not only gave 
them expectations that could not be realized, but prevented 
them from securing civil rights that the laws of the State con- 
ferred upon them. It also appeared to me that there was not 
a sufficient effort made in this State to harmonize capital and 
labor. The acts of a few local agents of the bureau were 
such as to destrov the confidence that should exist between 



342 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

these planters who were endeavoring to give free labor an 
Impartial trial, and the freedmen who worked in their fields. 
These acts were done through a mistaken notion of kindness 
to the blacks. . . 

There is not . . an able-bodied man who cannot get em- 
ployment and good wages. The planters of the State are 
very desirous of restoring their fortunes by cultivating the 
fields. Large profits can be made on the staple crops, and 
for this reason they can give good wages. The freedmen gen- 
erally know this fact, and will not, therefore, work for a pit- 
tance. More than a majority of them obtained employment 
last year when but a sm^all portion of the fields were culti- 
vated, and we have but to consider the fact that the most of 
the planters now desire to raise sugar and cotton to form a 
judgment of the demand for labor for the coming year. Be- 
fore the war four hundred thousand hogsheads of sugar and an 
equal number of barrels of molasses were made in Louisiana. . . 
There is a growing disposition on the part of the planters 
to act justly and fairly toward the freedmen, and to secure 
to them the exercise of their legal rights. . . They are also 
showing a disposition to accord the freedmen those opportuni- 
ties of educating their children which they have not heretofore 
possessed, for it is becoming evident to them that free labor 
flourishes best in those places where schools abound. The 
enmity against the black race in the south comes principally 
from the poor whites. For those of them who do work fear 
the competition of black labor, and nearly all of them, hav- 
ing before them the fear of "negro equality," do what they 
can to oppose their freedom, and the working of the free 
labor system.. But the war has not left enough of this class 
in Louisiana to exert any considerable influence. 

It is not true that there are great numbers of freedmen being 
murdered by the whites in Louisiana. During the month that 
I remained In the State but one case of this kind Vv'as presented 
to the bureau. . . This was the case of a freedman who had 
been shot and wounded by a white man, and the oft'ender when 
arrested claimed that the freedman had first fired at him. 



Official Regulations and Reports 343 

That there are many cases of outrage that are never heard 
of is most true, but from all that I have learned, I do not be- 
lieve that society in this respect is more demoralized at present 
in Louisiana than in some States further north. . . By telling 
only the bad acts that have been committed, and giving these 
as an index of society, any large community could be pictured 
as barbarous. 



Report of General Grant 

Senate Ex. Doc. no. 2. .19 Cong.. 1 Sess., p. 117. General Grant's 
letter to President Johnson, after a trip through the South. 

[December 18, 1S65] 

I DID not give the operations of the Freedmen's Bureau that 
attention I would have done if more time had been at my 
disposal. Conversations on the subject, however, with officers 
connected with the bureau lead me to think that in some of the 
States its affairs have not been conducted with good judgment 
or economy, and that the belief, widely spread among the 
freedmen of the Southern States, that the lands of their former 
owners will, at least in part, be divided among them, has come 
from the agents of this bureau. This belief is seriously inter- 
fering with the willingness of the freedmen to make contracts 
for the coming year. In some form the Freedmen's Bureau 
is an absolute necessity until civil law is established and en- 
forced, securing to the freedmen their rights and full protec- 
tion. At present, however, it is independent of the military 
establishment of the country, and seems to be operated by the 
different agents of the bureau according to their individual 
notions. Everywhere General Howard, the able head of the 
bureau, made friends by the just and fair instructions and ad- 
vice he gave; but the complaint in South Carolina was, that 
when he left things went on as before. Many, perhaps a 
majority, of the agents of the Freedmen's Bureau advise the 
freedmen that by their own industry they must expect to live. 
To this end they endeavor to secure employment for them, and 
to see that both contracting parties comply with their engage- 
ments. In some instances, I am sorry to say, the freedman's 
mind does not seem to be disabused of the idea that a freedman 



344 Docutnentary History of Reconstruction 

has the right to live without care or provision for the future. 
The effect of the behef in division of lands is idleness and 
accumulation in camps, towns, and cities. In such cases I think 
it will be found that vice and disease will tend to the extermina- 
tion, or great reduction of the colored race. It cannot be ex- 
pected that the opinions held by men at the South for years 
can be changed in a day; and therefore the freedmen require 
for a few years not only laws to protect them, but the fostering 
care of those who will give them good counsel, and In whom 
they can rely. 

The Freedmen's Bureau, being separated from the military 
establishment of the country, requires all the expense of a 
separate organization. One does not necessarily know what 
the other is doing, or what orders they are acting under. It 
seems to me this could be corrected by regarding every officer 
on duty with troops in the Southern States as agents of the 
Freedmen's Bureau, and then hav^e all orders from the head 
of the bureau sent through department commanders. This 
would create a responsibility that would secure uniformity of 
action throughout all the South; would insure the orders and 
Instructions from the head of the bureau being carried out; 
and would relieve from dut}^ and pay a large number of em- 
ployes of the Government. 

Jealousy of the Army 

Senate Ex. Doc. no. '27. 39 Cong.. 1 Sess., p. 87. Report of Gen. 
Davis Tillson, assistant commissioner for Georgia, to Gen. 0. O. 
Howard, commissioner. [December 29, 1865] 

I HAVE read General Grant's recent report very carefully, and 
particularly that portion of it referring to the bureau; I also 
notice In the papers an article stating that your orders and all 
military matters are under the control of the department com- 
manders, and that assistant commissioners are required to keep 
department commanders informed of all they are doing, and 
obtain their approval to the instructions and orders issued by 
them. I take it for granted that this is to some degree a mis- 
take; it is not only proper, but necessary, that the assistant 
commissioners should keep the department commanders In- 



Official Regulatio ns and Reports 34^ 

formed of all they are or Intend doing, that they furnish them 
with copies of all their orders, circulars, etc., and that they 
abstain from any interference whatever with militar>' matters, 
which are of course solely under the control of the department 
commander; but if assistant commissioners must secure the 
approval by the department commander of all their Instruc- 
tions or orders, then you lose all the advantage which you have 
gained by selecting officers who have some fitness for the duties 
to which they are assigned, and leave assistant commissioners 
simply the power to record the will of the department com- 
mander, who may or may not be competent to deal with the 
intricate and delicate questions the bureau is expected to solve. 
You deprive officers of the bureau of all real authority, and 
with It the little respect heretofore shown their orders, and 
make it possible for the people to evade the requirements of the 
bureau by skillfully flattering military commanders, a majority 
of whom, experience justifies me in saying, regard the bureau 
and the negro with indifference and contempt. They may 
know how to make war, but they may not know how to make 
peace, and may have none of that good temper and delicate 
tact and skill required in dealing with the people in their pres- 
ent condition so as to produce the results desired by the gov- 
ernment. 

If General Grant's suggestion is to be adopted, and all offi- 
cers on duty in the south are to be Indiscriminately regarded as 
officers of the bureau, then, as the past has shown, very many 
of them will be found simply able to play the part of the 
"bull In the china shop," and will be found utterly wanting 
In that proper knowledge and thoughtful discretion which is 
quite as necessary as the disposition to obey orders. 



The Fate of the "Old Time Southerner" 

House Ex. Doc. no. 70, 30 Cong.. 1 Scss., pp. 322. From a letter of 
Gen. Davis Tillson, assistant commissioner for Georgia, to Gen. 
0. O. Howard. [January 23, 1866] 

The fact is becoming more and more evident that hereafter 
labor and not cotton Is to be king. . . If the government will 



34^ Dociimetitary History of Reconstruction 

only continue to stand by the freed people in their just rights 
simply^ then, by the operations of laws infinitely more poten- 
tial and certain in their execution than those of Congress, the 
negro is to be master of the situation, and those who in times 
past practiced cruelty upon him, or who now hate, despise, and 
defame him, are to be a financially ruined people. To-day the 
men who have been cruel to their slaves cannot hire freed peo- 
ple to work for them at any price. Fortunes in the future are 
for those only whom the freed people can trust and for whom 
they will work — not for the proud and haughty owner of 
land merely. Land, good land, will be plenty, a drug in the 
market; labor will be the difficult thing to obtain, and the 
friends of the freed people, especially the northern man, can 
alone command it. Entre nous, I think I see the end, and I 
predict that Providence is not done dealing with this people. 
I believe their hate, cruelty, and malice are yet to bear more 
and very bitter fruit, and that by natural and irresistible laws 
the old-time southerner is to become entirely harmless in his 
impotent rage, or extinct. 



Dislike of the Bureau in Kentucky 

House Ex. Doc. no. 10, SO Cong., 1 Sess.. pp. 230, 238. The Bureau 
was intensely disliked in Kentucky where slavery was not abolished 
until December, 1865, by the Thirteenth Amendment. The follow- 
ing report is from Gen. Clinton B. Fisk, assistant commissioner for 
Kentucky. [January 6, 1S66] 

There are some of the meanest unsubjugated and unrecon- 
structed rascally rebellious revolutionists in Kentucky that curse 
the soil of the country. They claim now that although the 
amendment to the Constitution forever abolishing and prohib- 
iting slavery has been ratified, and proclamation thereof duly 
made, yet Congress must legislate to carry the amendment into 
effect, and therefore slavery is not dead in Kentucky. Others 
cling to the old barbarism with tenacity, claiming that the gov- 
ernment must pay Kentucky for her emancipated slaves. There 
are a few public journals in the State which afford great com- 
fort to the malcontents, but the majority of the people of Ken- 
'tucky hail the dawn of universal liberty, and welcome the 



Official Regulations a nd Reports 347 

agency of the bureau In adjusting the new relations arising 
from the total abolition of slavery. 

I have been denounced in the Kentucky legislature as a liar 
and slanderer. A committee has been appointed to investi- 
gate the matter. . . I have good reason for believing that the 
committee will simply make a report that General Fisk is a 
great liar, and should be removed from office, etc. It is well 
to remember that a more select number of vindictive, pro- 
slavery, rebellious legislators cannot be found than a majority 
of the Kentucky legislature. The President of the United 
States was denounced in the senate as a worse traitor than Jef- 
ferson Davis, and that, too, before the bureau tempest had 
reached them. The entire opposition is political, a warfare 
waged against loyalty, freedotn, and justice. 



Bureau Courts in Georgia 

Senate Ex. Doc. no. 2, SO Cong., 2 Sess., p. 54. Report of Gen. 
Davis Tillson. [November 1, 1866] 

On assuming command of the department. Major General 
Steadman found the bureau courts acting in a manner so il- 
legal and oppressive, and creating so much well-founded oppo- 
sition to the government, that he was constrained to abolish 
them and require all cases to be adjudicated before provost 
courts or military commissions. After the appointment of 
civil agents of the bureau, the department commander ordered 
that all cases involving the rights of the freedmen should go 
before them, except cases exceeding their jurisdiction, which 
should be tried before a military commission. This system 
was found to produce most satisfactory results. . . 

Much of the harmony and co-operation which have since 
happily existed betw'een the civil authorities and the officers 
and agents of the bureau, is attributable to the wise and con- 
ciliatory action of the convention [1865], and to the influence 
of the members upon their return to their homes. Through 
the Hon. H. V. Johnson, president of the convention, I re- 
quested the members upon their return home to advise with 
the leading planters and more intelligent freedmen of their 



348 Documeniary History of Reco7istruction 

several counties, select responsible gentlemen in whom both 
had confidence, and forward their names to this office for ap- 
pointment as civil agents of the bureau. Two hundred and 
forty-four agents have been thus appointed, and in a large 
majorit)^ of cases they have proved competent and faithful to 
the trust reposed in them, in not a few instances gaining a 
temporally unpopularity by their fearlessness in announcing 
and defending the rights of the freedmen. A few were found 
unfit for the position, and were promptly removed. Being 
citizens of the State, they did not encounter the prejudice felt 
against officers of the army, or agents from the north, and 
were thereby enabled more readily to secure justice to the 
freedmen, and to build up and foster a healthy public opinion. 
The few army officers who could be obtained for the duty were 
assigned to the more important places in the State, and in- 
structed to place themselves in communication and co-opera- 
tion with the civil agents in the counties near them. 



Failure of the Colonization Plan 

House Report no. 121, J/l Cong., 2 Sess., p. 48'6. Report of John T. 
Sprague, assistant commisisoner for Florida. In each Southern 
state several negro colonies were formed but all of them failed. 

[1866] 

The colonization of freed people by themselves, in large num- 
bers, so far as the experiment has been tried in Florida, has 
proved a failure. General Ely's colony, the only one of any 
magnitude brought to the State within the year, through want 
of discipline and general mismanagement, barely held together 
for the period of three months. No effort was spared by the 
bureau to give the scheme a thorough trial. Soon after the 
colony arrived at New Smyrna, the point of its destination, 
rations were furnished, and a competent bureau officer placed 
In charge. Already the predatory disposition of the men 
had filled the surrounding country with alarm; no cattle or 
hogs were secure for miles around; and the colony seemed In 
a fair way for a speedy relapse Into a state of barbarism. So 
long as the government would supply rations there was little 
or no disposition to work; and It was only after the utter Im- 



Official Regulations and Reports 



pract,cab,l,ty of the scheme became manifest that the colony 
was perm.tted to d.ssipate itself through the adjacent country! 
the able men and women for the most part obtaining good 
contracts for plantation labor in the counties of Marion, Sump- 
er and Orange, Many of the old, infirm and children were 
left on the original site of the colony. These continued a 
charge upon the bureau until a recent date. 



3- CONFISCATION: "FORTY ACRES 
AND A MULE" 



Sherman's Confiscations 

War Department Archives. Special Field Order no. 15, Mil. Div. 
of the Mississippi. Savannah, Georgia, January 16, 18&5. This 
order is an illustration of the general notion of the army that the 
races should be separated. [1865] 

I. The islands from Charleston, south, the abandoned rice 
fields along the rivers for thirty miles back from the sea, and 
the country bordering the St. John's river, Florida, are re- 
served and set apart for the settlement of the negroes now 
made free by the acts of war and the proclamation of the 
President of the United States. 

II. At Beaufort, Hilton Head, Savannah, Fernandina, St. 
Augustine, and Jacksonville, the blacks may remain in their 
chosen or accustomed vocations, but on the islands, and in the 
settlements hereafter to be established, no white person what- 
ever, unless military officers and soldiers, detailed for duty, will 
be permitted to reside; and the sole and exclusive management 
of affairs will be left to the freed people themselves, subject only 
to the United States military authority and the acts of Congress. 
By the laws of war and orders of the President of the United 
States the negro is free, and must be dealt with as such. 
He cannot be subjected to conscription or forced military ser- 
v^ice, save by the written orders of the highest military author- 
ity of the department, under such regulations as the President 
or Congress may prescribe. Domestic servants, blacksmiths, 
carpenters, and other mechanics, will be free to select their 
own work and residence, but the young and able-bodied ne- 
groes must be encouraged to enlist as soldiers in the service 
of the United States, to contribute their share towards main- 
taining their own freedom, and securing their rights as citizens 
of the United States. . . 

III. Whenever three respectable negroes, heads of fam- 
ilies, shall desire to settle on lands, and shall have selected for 
that purpose an island or a locality clearly defined, within the 

350 



Confiscation: ''Forty Acres and a Mule" 351 

limits above designated, the inspector of settlements and plan- 
tations will himself, or by such subordinate officer as he may 
appoint, give them a license to settle such island or district, and 
afford them such assistance as he can to enable them to estab- 
lish a peaceable agricuhural settlement. The three parties 
named will subdivide the land, under the supervision of the 
inspector, among themselves and such others as may choose 
to settle near them, so that each family shall have a plot of 
not more than forty (40) acres of tillable ground, and when 
it borders on some water channel, with not more than 800 
feet water front, in the possession of which land the military 
authorities will afford them protection until such time as they 
can protect themselves, or until Congress shall regulate their 
title. The quartermaster may, on the requisition of the in- 
spector of settlements and plantations, place at the disposal of 
the inspector one or more of the captured steamers, to ply 
between the settlements and one or more of the commercial 
points heretofore named in orders, to afford the settlers the 
opportunity to supply their necessary wants, and to sell the 
products of their land and labor. 

IV. Whenever a negro has enlisted in the military ser- 
vice of the United States he may locate his family in any one 
of the settlements at pleasure, and acquire a homestead and 
all other rights and privileges of a settler, as though present 
in person. In like manner negroes may settle their families 
and engage on board the gunboats, or in fishing, or in the 
navigation of the inland waters, without losing any claim to 
land or other advantage derived from this system. But no 
one, unless an actual settler as above defined, or unless absent 
on government service, will be entitled to claim any right to 
land or property in any settlement by virtue of these orders. 

V. In order to carry out this system of settlement, a gen- 
eral officer will be detailed as inspector of settlements anJ 
plantations, whose duty it shall be to visit the settlements, to 
regulate their police and general management, and who will 
furnish personally to each head of a family, subject to the 
approval of the President of the United States, a possessory 



352 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

title in writing, giving as near as possible the description of 
boundaries, and who shall adjust all claims or conflicts that 
may arise under the same, subject to the like approval, treat- 
ing such titles altogether as possessory. The same general 
officer will also be charged with the enlistment and organi- 
zation of the negro recruits, and protecting their interests 
while absent from their settlements, and will be governed by 
the rules and regulations prescribed by the War Department 
for such purposes. 

VI. Brigadier General R. Saxton is hereby appointed in- 
spector of settlements and plantations, and will at once enter 
on the performance of his duties. No change is intended or 
desired in the settlement now on Beaufort island, nor will any 
rights to property heretofore acquired be affected thereby. 



The Policy of the Bureau in regard to Confiscation 

War Department Archives. Circular no. 13. Freedmen's Bureau. 
These and other similar instructions limited the application of the 
President's Amnesty Proclamation of (May 29, 1865. [July 28, 1865] 

I St. All confiscated and abandoned lands, and other confis- 
cated and abandoned lands that now are, or that may hereafter 
come, under the control of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen 
and Abandoned Lands, by virtue of said acts, and sections of 
acts, and orders of the President, are, and shall be, set apart for 
the use of loyal refugees and freedmen, and so much as may 
be necessary assigned to them, as provided in section 4 of the 
act establishing the bureau. . . *"• 

2nd. All land or other property within the several insurrec- 
tionary States . . to which the United States have, or shall 
have acquired title by confiscation, or sale, or otherwise, during 
the late rebellion, and all abandoned lands, or other abandoned 
property in these States, become so by the construction of sec- 
tion 3, act approved July 2nd, 1864, viz: "Property, real or 
personal, shall be regarded as abandoned when the lawful 
owner thereof shall be voluntarily absent therefrom, and en- 
gaged either in arms or otherwise in aiding or encouraging the 
rebellion," and which remains unsold or othervrise disposed of. 



Confiscation'. 'Torty Acres and a Mule" 353 

are, and shall be, considered as under the control of the Com- 
missioner of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Aban- 
doned Lands, for the purposes hereinbefore set forth, and for 
the time authorized by the act establishing the bureau, and no 
part or parcel of said confiscated or abandoned property shall 
be surrendered or restored to the former owners thereof, or 
other claimants thereto, except such surrender or restoration 
be authorized by said Commissioner. . . 

5th. Assistant commissioners will, as rapidly as possible, 
cause accurate descriptions of all confiscated and abandoned 
lands, and other confiscated and abandoned property that are 
now, or that may hereafter come, under their control, to be 
made, and, besides keeping a record of such themselves, will 
forward monthly to the Commissioner of the bureau copies of 
such descriptions in the manner prescribed by circular . . from 
this bureau. They will . . select and set apart such confis- 
cated and abandoned lands and property as may be deemed 
necessary for the immediate use of refugees and freedmen, 
the specific division of which into lots, and the rental or sale 
thereof, according to the law establishing the bureau, will be 
completed as soon as practicable and reported to the Commis- 
sioner. In the selection and setting apart of such lands and 
property, care will be used to take that about which there is 
the least doubt as to the proper custody and control of this 
bureau. 

6th. The pardon of the President will not be understood 
to extend to the surrender of abandoned or confiscated prop- 
erty, which by law has been set apart for refugees and freed- 
men, or in use for the employment and general welfare of all 
persons within the lines of national military occupation within 
said insurrectionary States, formerly held as slaves, who are, 
or shall become free. 



Freedmen Expect Lands 

0. 70, 39 Cong., 1 Sess. Extract 
sioners in Virginia and Georgia 

[Sep 

Reports having been received at these headquarters [Vir- 



Honse Ex. Doc. no. 10, 39 Cong., 1 Sess. Extracts from reports of 
assistant commissioners in Virginia and Georgia. ,„„., 

[September 19, IS60] 



354 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

glnia] that the freedmen in some parts of the State refuse to 
enter into just and reasonable contracts for labor, on account 
of the belief that the United States government will distribute 
lands among them, superintendents and agents of this bureau 
will take the earliest opportunity to explain to the freedmen 
that no lands will be given them by the government; that the 
government has but a very small quantity of land in the 
State — only enough to provide homes for a few families, 
and that this can only be secured by purchase or lease. . . 

Unfortunately, there is a widespread belief among the freed 
people of this State [Georgia] that at Christmas there is to 
be a distribution of property among them, and under this 
impression they are refusing to make contracts for the com- 
ing year. All officers and agents of this bureau are directed, 
and other officers of the army throughout the State are ear- 
nestly requested, to exert themselves to convince the freed 
people that they are utterly mistaken, and that no such distri- 
bution will take place at Christmas, or at any other time, and 
to induce them to enter into contracts now, that they may not, 
at the end of the year, be in a condition to entail severe suf- 
fering on themselves, their families, and upon the community. 



Confiscations in South Carolina 

Senate Ex. Doc. no. 27, 39 Cong., 1 Sess., p. 140. Report of Gen. 
Rufus Saxton, assistant commissioner for South Carolina. 

[December 6, 1865] 

The impression is universal among the freedmen that they are 
to have the abandoned and confiscated lands, in homesteads of 
fort}^ acres, in January next. It is understood that previous 
to the termination of the late war the negroes heard from 
those in rebellion that it was the purpose of our government 
to divide up the southern plantations among them. . . Our 
own acts of Congress, and particularly the act creating this 
bureau, which was extensively circulated among them, still 
further strengthened them in the belief that they were to 
possess homesteads, and has caused a great unwillingness upon 
the part of the freedmen to make any contracts whatever. . . 



ConfiscaUon'. ''Forty Acres and a Mule" 355 

All the officers and agents of this bureau have been Instructed 
to do everything in their power to correct these impressions 
among the freedmen, and to urge them In every possible way 
to make contracts with their former owners; but so deep- 
seated a conviction has been found difficult to eradicate. . . 

The question of next Importance has been the status of the 
sea islands. By General Sherman's order . . some forty 
thousand destitute freedmen, who followed In the wake of and 
came in with his armxy, were promised homes on the sea 
islands, and urged by myself and others to emigrate there and 
select them. Public meetings were called, and every exertion 
used by those Vvhose duty it was to carry out the order to 
encourage emigration to the sea Islands. The greatest success 
attended our efforts. . . Thousands of acres were cleared up 
and planted, and provisions enough w^ere raised to provide for 
those who were located In season to plant, besides large quan- 
tities of sea island cotton. . . 

On some of the islands the freedmen have established civil 
government, with constitutions and laws for the regulation of 
their internal affairs, with all the different departments for 
schools, churches, building roads, and other Improvements. . . 
The former owners have recently been using every exertion to 
have these lands restored to their possession, and to secure 
this end promised to make such arrangements with the freed- 
men as to absorb their labor, and give them homes and em- 
ployment on their estates. The officer detailed by yourself to 
restore these lands has been unable thus far to make any 
arrangement, nor do I believe it will be possible for him to 
make any satisfactory arrangement. The freedmen have their 
hearts set upon the possession of these Islands, and nothing but 
that or its equivalent will satisfy them. They refuse to con- 
tract, and express a determination to leave the islands rather 
than do so. The efforts made by the former owners to obtain 
the possession of the lands have caused a great excitement 
among the settlers. Inasmuch as the faith of the government 
has been pledged to these freedmen to maintain them m the 
possession of their homes, and as to break its promise in the 



356 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

hour of Its triumph is not becoming a just government . . I 
would respectfully suggest that a practical solution of the 
whole question of lands . . may be had by the appropriation 
of money by Congress to purchase the whole tract set apart by 
this order [of Sherman]. . . 

The abandoned house of Mr. Memminger, formerly the 
secretary of the treasury for the so-called confederate gov- 
ernment, was recently set apart as an asylum for the destitute 
colored orphans in the department. 

Some Results of Sherman's Order 

Sidney Andrews, The South Since the War, pp. 97, 209, 212. An- 
drews was traveling correspondent for the Boston Advertiser, and 
the Chicago Tribune. [October 21, 1865] 

There is among the plantation negroes a widely spread idea 
that land is to be given them by the Government, and this 
Idea Is at the bottom of much idleness and discontent. At 
Orangeburg and at Columbia, country negroes with whom I 
have conversed asked me, "When is de land goin' fur to be 
dewlded?" Some of them believe that the land which they 
are going to have is on the coast; others believe that the plan- 
tations on which they have lived are to be divided among them- 
selves. One of the [Constitutional] Convention delegates 
told me that an old negro man, who declined going away with 
some of the hands bound for Charleston, gave, as his reason 
for remaining, that "De home-house might come to me, ye 
see, sah, in de dewlsion." There is also a widely spread idea 
that the whites are to be driven out of the lower section of the 
State, and that the negroes are there to live by themselves. 
That so absurd ideas as these could exist I would not believe 
till I found them myself. This latter notion I even found in 
Charleston among negroes who had just come in from the 
back country. Other absurd notions well known to prevail 
are, that freedom can only be found "dov/n-country," I. e. in 
the neighborhood of Charleston; that it is inseparable from 
the presence of the army, etc. . . 

That the original intention of the government In setting 
apart the Sea Islands was to either give or sell them to the 



Confiscation: ''Forty Acres and a Mule" 357 



freedmen I sincerely believe. That the negroes were allowed 
to receive the Impression that this was the purpose of the Gov- 
ernment Is beyond all question. That General Saxton colon- 
ized them In vast numbers on those Islands, with this under- 
standing on his part and theirs, Is matter of record. If the 
faith of the nation was ever Impliedly pledged to anything, 
it was to the assurance that the colored people should have a 
home there — as witness the famous order of General Sher- 
man, approved by the Secretary of \Yar, and practically In- 
dorsed for nearly nine months by all branches of the govern- 
ment. . . 

Three days ago [October 18, 1865] General Howard 
went down to Edisto Island In company with a represen- 
tative of the old owners thereof. They were met at 
church by over two thousand freedmen, and a long and 
painfully Interesting meeting was held. To say that the 
negroes were overwhelmed with sorrow and dissatisfac- 
tion Is to state a fact In sober phrase. General Howard 
explained to them in careful and sympathetic words what he 
believed to be the wishes of the President, and asked them to 
appoint a committee to consider the terms proposed by the 
planters. This they did; and while the committee were in 
consultation, the assembly sang several of the most touching 
and mournful of the negro songs, and were addressed In broken 
and tearful words by some of their own preachers. The 
scarcely concealed spirit of all was that the Government had 
deceived them, and It required the most earnest efforts of 
General Howard and his associates to keep this spirit 
from finding stormy outbreak. The result of the confer- 
ence between representative Whaley and the Freedmen's com- 
mittee does not promise a speedy reconciliation of the negroes 
to their removal from the lands. They say that they will not, 
under any circumstances, work with overseers. . . Some few 
of them seemed willing to work for fair wages, but the great 
body were anxious to rent or buy the lands, to which the 
planters will not consent. . . 

The planters believe that they ought to have their old estates, 



2^S Documentary History of Reconstruction 

and they also believe that the President means that they shall 
have them ; and hence the "fair terms" which they propose are 
such as will neither satisfy the freedmen nor the friends of the 
freedmen. The negroes, on the other hand, almost universally 
believe that the islands have been given to them, and they are 
not likely to readily relinquish that belief. . . An attempt to 
force them from the Islands at present, or to compel them to the 
acceptance of the terms proposed by the planters, will over- 
throw their faith in the Government, and there will be — blood- 
shed. 

Land Certificates in Florida 

John Wallace, Carpet Barj Rule in Florida, 1885, p. 39. [1865-1S67] 

During the years of 1865-67 there was much speculation 
among the freedmen as to what the government intended to 
do for them in regard to farms. . . One Stonelake, United 
States Land Register at Tallahassee, appointed soon after the 
surrender, . . taking advantage of the Ignorance of the freed- 
men, issued.to them thousands of land certificates purporting to 
convey thousands of acres of land. For each certificate the 
freedman was required to pay not less than five dollars, and as 
much more as Stonelake could extort from the more ignorant. 
He Induced the most influential to make the first purchases, 
and, it was generally believed, gave them a portion of his fees 
to secure purchasers. The former masters warned our people 
against this fraud, but as Stonelake v\-as one of the representa- 
tives of the paternal government, he was supposed by the freed- 
men to be incapable of fraud or deception. Many of them 
were led to believe that these lands consisted of their former 
masters' plantations, and that the certificates alone would oust 
the latter from possession. After showing the certificates 
around among his neighbors and exulting over the purchase 
of a plantation, he would eventually show it to his former 
master, who would explain the fraud, when he would rush 
back to Stonelake for his money, who would invent some new 
deception to quiet him, and explain that upon further examina- 
tion of his books he found the lands were located further south. 
These explanations did not fully satisfy the freedm.en, and 



Confiscation: ''Forty Acres and a Mule" 359 

they called a meeting and appointed several of their number 
to go down south and spy out the Promised Land. This com- 
mittee expended the money raised by their confiding friends, 
and after an absence of several weeks in a pretended survey,' 
reported that they saw some good lands . . and advised the 
freedmen to occupy them, but as they were unable to locate the 
Promised Land, their advice was not followed, and the victims 
were left to vent their curses upon the swindler Stonelake. 



Painted Pegs from Washington 

Ku Klux Report, Alaiama Testimony, p. 319. Statement of John 
G. Pierce. For years the negroes were swindled by sharpers who 
traded upon their belief in the future divisions of lands. [1865-1870] 

I CAN tell you from what I know and have seen myself, and 
also from what negroes have told me, that they have been 
promised lands and mules — forty acres of land and a mule — 
on divers occasions. Many an old negro has come to me and 
asked me about that thing. I can illustrate it by one little 
thing that I saw on a visit once to Gainesville, Sumter County. 
At a barbecue there I saw a man who was making a speech to 
the negroes, telling them what good he had done for them; 
that he had been to Washington City and had procured from 
one of the Departments here certain pegs. I saw the pegs. 
He had about two dozen on his arm; they were painted red and 
blue. He said that those pegs he had obtained from here at 
a great expense to himself; that they had been made by the 
Government for the purpose of staking out the negroes' forty 
acres. He told the negroes that all he wanted was to have 
the expenses paid to him, which was about a dollar a peg. He 
told them that they could stick one peg down at a corner, then 
walk so far one way and stick another down, then walk so far 
another way and stick another down, till they had got the four 
pegs down; and that, when the four pegs were down, the ne- 
groes' forty acres would be included in that area ; and all he had 
to say to them was, that they could stick those pegs anywhere 
they pleased — on anybody's land they wanted to, but not to in- 
terfere with each other; and he would advise them, in selecting 



360 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

the forty acres, to take half woodland and half clear; that 
nobody would dare to interfere with those pegs. 



Sales of Striped Pegs 

T. H. Ball, Clarke County (Alabama), p. 627. Such frauds were 
perpetrated as late as 1900. [1873] 

In 1873 . . there passed through the county a '■jchite man, 

supposed to be from the North, with a large bundle of little 

colored stakes, who called upon the freed-men and told them 

that the President had authorized him to distribute among 

them those stakes in order that they might become owners of 

land, and that wherever they stuck one of those stakes the land 

should be theirs, no matter who had owned or claimed it. 

They could make their own selections for their farms. The 

price of a stake was three dollars, but when the freed-men 

could not raise that amount the stake-man would sell even for 

one dollar. And many of the credulous and trusting colored 

people . . bought these little stakes, stuck them on the lands 

of their white neighbors, and some began to work their newly 

acquired plantations, with what results need not be told. 



ESTIMATES AND OPINIONS OF THE 
BUREAU'S WORK 



Carl Schurz Defends the Bureau 

report to the President. ri8651 

That abuses were connected with the management of freed- 
men's affairs; that some of the officers of the bureau were men 
of more enthusiasm than discretion, and in many cases went be- 
yond their authority; all this is certainly true. But while the 
southern people are always ready to expatiate upon the short- 
coinings of the Freedmen's Bureau, they are not so ready to 
recognize the services it has rendered. I feel warranted in 
saying that not one-half of the labor that has been done in the 
south this year, or will be done there next year, would have 
been or would be done but for the exertions of the Freedmen's 
Bureau. The confusion and disorder of the transition period 
would have been infinitely greater had not an agency interfered 
which possessed the confidence of the emancipated slaves; 
which could disabuse them of any extravagant notions and 
expectations and be trusted; which could administer to them 
good advice and be voluntarily obeyed. No other agency, 
except one placed there by the national government, could have 
wielded that moral power whose interposition was so necessary 
to prevent the southern society from falling at once into the 
chaos of a general collision between its different elements. That 
the success achieved by the Freedmen's Bureau is as yet very 
incomplete cannot be disputed. A more perfect organization 
and a more carefully selected personnel may be desirable; but 
it is doubtful whether a more suitable machinery can be devised 
to secure to free labor in the South that protection against dis- 
turbing influences which the nature of the situation still im- 
peratively demands. 

Dissatisfaction about Wage Regulation 

Senate Ex. Doc. no. 27, 39 Cong.. 1 Sess.. p. 98. Augusta, Georgia, 
correspondence in the National Intelligencer. [January, 186'6] 

Some dissatisfaction in the article of wages exists with a late 

361 



362 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

circular issued, just prior to Christmas, from the headquarters 
of the Freedmen's Bureau in this State. This circular, while 
not expressly commanding any schedule of wages, suggests a 
tariff in such matters as, to the minds of the freed people, will 
doubtless be taken as equivalent to an order to that effect. 
These suggestions mention from $180 to $156 per annum for 
males, and from $96 to $120 for females . . food and 
lodging, in all cases, super-added. Now, it is claimed that 
these rates are fully one hundred per cent, too great. 



The Necessity for the Bureau 

Report of the Joint Committee on Reconstruction, part Iv, p. 82. 
Statement of Chaplain T. W. Conway. Conway had had trouble 
while in charge of the Bureau in Louisiana and had been removed. 
He made speeches over the North on conditions in the South. [1866] 

I SHOULD expect in Louisiana, as in the whole southern country, 
that the withdrawal of the Freedmen's Bureau would be fol- 
lowed by a condition of anarchy and bloodshed. . . I am 
pained at the conviction that I have in my ovv^n mind that if 
the Freedmen's Bureau is withdrawn the result will be fearful 
in the extreme. What it has already done and is now doing 
In shielding these people, only incites the bitterness of their foes. 
They will be murdered by wholesale, and they in their turn will 
defend themselves. It will not be persecution merely; it will 
be slaughter; and I doubt whether the world has ever known 
the like. These southern rebels, when the power is once in 
their hands, will stop at nothing short of extermination. 
Governor Wells himself told me that he expected in ten years 
to see the whole colored race exterminated, and that conviction 
is shared ver}' largely among the white people of the south. 
It has been threatened by leading men there that they would 
exterminate the freedmen. . . In reply I said that they could 
not drive the freedmen out of the nation, because, in the first 
place, they would not go; and for another reason, that they 
had no authority to drive them out; and for a third reason, 
that they were wanted in the south as laborers. To that they 
replied, that, if necessary, they would get their laborers from 
Europe; that white laborers would be more agreeable to them; 



Estimates and Opinions of the B ureau's Work 363 

that the negro must be gotten rid of in some way. . . I have 
heard it so many times, and from so many different quarters, 
that I believe it is a fixed determination, and that they are 
looking anxiously to the extermination of the whole negro race 
from the country. There is an agent here now, with letters 
from the governor of Louisiana to parties in New York, with 
a view of entering at once upon negotiations to secure laborers 
from various parts of Europe. There are other parties en- 
deavoring to get coolies into the south, and in various places 
there are immense efforts to obtain white labor to supplant that 
of the negro. It is a part of the immense and desperate pro- 
gramme which they have adopted and expect to carry out 
within the next ten years. . . I said the negro race would be 
exterminated unless protected by the strong arm of the govern- 
ment. . . The wicked work has already commenced, and it 
could be shown that the policy pursued by the government 
is construed by the rebels as not being opposed to it. 



The Bureau and the Negro Troops 

Report of Joint Committee on Reconstruction, part iii, p. 134. 
Statement of William L. Sharkey, provisional governor of Missis- 
sippi. [1866] 

There is no disguising the fact that the Freedmen's Bureau 
and the colored troops there have done more mischief than 
anything else. General Howard is a ver}' clev^er gentleman ; 
but there are men in charge of the Freedmen's Bureau in 
Mississippi who are disposed to speculate on white and black; 
they encourage the black and discourage the white man. And 
wherever there is a negro garrison the free negroes congregate 
around it, and, as a matter of course, crimes and depredations 
are committed. I verily believe that if . . all the troops and 
the Freedmen's Bureau had been withdrawn, I could have had a 
perfect state of order throughout the State in two weeks. The 
great amount of complaints originate from the localities where 
the negro soldiers are. I do not say that the negroes do not 
make good soldiers, but they encourage the congregation of 
freedmen around them, and from the freedmen come crime and 



364 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

depredations. As a general thing . . the freedmen have gone 
to work; some receiving a share of the crops, and some receiv- 
ing their wages. They certainly have gone to work, as a 
general thing in the State; and the people are buoyant and 
hopefid. In some parts of the State freedmen are receiving 
exceedingly high wages. Mr. Alcorn, my colleague in the 
senate, authorizes me to state that in the river counties . . if 
labor could be had, a thousand freedmen could be employed at 
$25 a month. 

A Northern Man's Opinion 

Report of Joint Committee on Reconstruction, part iv. p. 148. 
Statement of Stephen Powers, correspondent of the Cincinnati 
Commercial. [1866] 

It was a necessity particularly in those months immediately 
following the close of the war, to secure the distribution of ra- 
tions among both the refugees and freedmen, of which they 
stood In great need, and without which many thousands would 
have perished. Last fall, about the Christmas holidays, early 
this winter the bureau was particularly necessary, and did a 
great deal of good, and did admirable work in procuring situa- 
tions for hundreds and thousands of negroes. . . The bureau 
may make itself useful this summer and next fall [1866] in se- 
curing a proper distribution of the crops. . . I think It would 
also be necessary to continue the bureau until the freedmen gen- 
erally have entered Into contracts for the year 1 867. After that 
I think the necessity for the bureau will be removed. Indeed, I 
think the necessity for It has already passed away in the State 
of Tennessee, and in many portions of other States. . . In 
many cases it has fallen Into the hands of Incompetent and 
speculating officers who made it a by-word, and unnecessarily 
obnoxious to the people of the State where it was located. . . 
The bureau is particularly odious to the people of Texas. 
Things were in a chaotic state there generally, and the bureau 
as at first organized, and as continued for a great while, was 
rather loose in its organization, and rather irresponsible. And 
many things were done In Texas and Florida, also, which were 
unnecessarily odious to the people, and discriminating in favor 



Estifuates and Opinions of t he Bureau's Work 365 

of the blacks. Such things were not generally in the shape 
of any serious oppressions; but they were simply petty disre- 
gards of that sentiment which the southern people entertain, 
and for which, I think, the officers with wisdom have shown 
a little more charity, and thus have added to their usefulness. 



Views of John Minor Botts 

Report of Joint Committee on Reconstruction, part ii, p. 139. 
Botts was a well known Virginia Unionist. As a rule the Unionists 
were hostile to the Bureau because it tended to unite the whites in 
one party, thus rendering political division unlikely and making the 
Unionist influence insignificant. [1866] 

I THINK that one of the great difficulties in Virginia, in regard 
to the colored people, arises from the organization of the 
Freedmen's Bureau — not that the Freedmen's Bureau is not 
in itself proper, and perhaps in som.e localities an indispensable 
institution, but that it stands very greatly in need of reforma- 
tion. . . I have heard of a great many difficulties and out- 
rages which have proceeded . . from the ignorance and fanati- 
cism of persons connected with the Freedmen's Bureau, who 
do not understand anything of the true relation of the original 
master to the slave, and who have, in many instances, held out 
promises and inducements which can never be realized to the 
negroes, which have made them entirely indifferent to work, 
and sometimes ill behaved. On the other hand, there are 
many persons connected with the Freedmen's Bureau who have 
conducted themselves with great propriety ; and where that has 
been so there has been no trouble between the whites and blacks 
that I know of. 

"Productive only of Mischief" 

Report of Joint Committee on Reconstruction, part iv, p. 134. 
Statement of J. D. B. De Bow, editor of De Bow's Review, Director 
of the Census, 1860. [1SC6] 

I THINK if the whole regulation of the negroes, or freedmen, 

were left to the people of the communities in which they live, 

it will be administered for the best interest of the negroes as 

well as of the white men. I think there is a kindly feeling on 

the part of the planters towards the freedmen. They are not 



366 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

held at all responsible for anything that has happened. They 
are looked upon as the innocent cause. In talking with a 
number of planters, I remember some of them telling me they 
were succeeding very well with their freedmen, having got a 
preacher to preach to them and a teacher to teach them, be- 
lieving it was for the interest of the planter to make the negro 
feel reconciled; for, to lose his services as a laborer for even a 
few months would be very disastrous. The sentiment prevail- 
ing is, that it is for the interest of the employer to teach the 
negro, to educate his children, to provide a preacher for him, 
and to attend to his physical wants. And I may say I have 
not seen an exception to that feeling in the south. Leave the 
people to themselves, and they will manage very well. The 
Freedmen's Bureau, or any agency to Interfere between the 
freedman and his former master, is only productive of mis- 
chief. There are constant appeals from one to the other and 
continual annoyances. It has a tendency to create dissatisfac- 
tion and disaffection on the part of the laborer, and is In every 
respect in its result most unfavorable to the system of Industry 
that is now being organized under the new order of things In 
the South. I do not think there is any difference of opinion 
upon this subject. 

Criticism of the Bureau not Disloyalty 

Report of Joint Committee on Reconstruction, part iii, p. 156. 
Statement of Gen. John Tarbell, U. S. A. [1866] 

I THINK they have well grounded complaints against the Freed- 
men's Bureau; and I do not think their criticisms upon that 
bureau are in every instance dictated by motives of disloyalty. 
I do not mean to say what proportion of the officers of that 
bureau are incompetent or corrupt, but that there are many 
such I have no doubt. In such districts there has been a good 
deal of com.plaint, and to a casual observer their comments 
might be ascribed, perhaps, to motives of disloyalty; but a 
more careful attention to the subject satisfied me that their 
complaints were well grounded in a great many cases, for in 
districts where they had upright, intelligent, and impartial 
officers of the bureau, the people expressed entire satisfaction. 



Estimates and Opinions of the Bureau's Work 367 

They stated to me that where they had such officers, and where 
they had soldiers who were under good dIscIpHne, they were 
entirely welcome, and indeed they were glad to have their 
presence — in some cases approving the action of the bureau 
officers in punishing white men for the ill treatment of colored 
people, saying that the officers were perfectly right. In other 
districts, I am satisfied that It often occurred that bureau offi- 
cers, wanting m good sense, would show a decided partiality 
for the colored people, without regard to justice. I am satis- 
fied, also, there were districts where the planters would Insure 
the favor of the bureau officers to them by paying them money; 
and while they were glad to have their favor, still they would 
condemn such officers, and In such districts there was dissatis- 
faction. 

The Bureau Demoralized Labor 

Ku Klux Report. Alalmma Testimony (1871), p. 1132. Testimony 
of Daniel Taylor, an Alabama planter. [1865-18G8] 

The negroes that would go and settle down on plantations and 
work and stay there always had plenty to eat. The white 
men who employed them felt bound to keep them In plenty to 
eat and good clothes to wear when they would stay with them; 
but If a man was trying to make a negro work, and talked a 
little short to the negro, he would pick up and go somewhere 
else, very often when a man had made preparations to go on. . . 
The negroes would quit and go off for this Bureau when 
they should have had a dependence In the country. They de- 
pended upon the Bureau for rations. . . The negroes cheated 
the farmers out of their labor. . . The negroes were to pay 
for their provisions out of their part of the crop and they did 
not go on making their crop, so that their part of the crop was 
not sufficient to pay the ov/ner the amount that was due him for 
the land and stock and the advance. 

Wade Hampton's Opinion of the Bureau 

Letter to President Johnson. Original owned by Mr. T. C. Thomp- 
soin, Chattamooga, Tennessee. Hampton was the largest slave- 
holder in the South in 1860. He was one of the first, in ISbo, 
to declare in favor of a qualified suffrage for the negroes. 

[1866] 

The next step In the progress of reconstruction v/as quite as 



368 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

unfortunate as that of garrisoning the South with negro troops. 
This was the establishment of that incubus, — that Hydra- 
headed monster, the Freedmen's Bureau. When the North 
had given freedom to four million stolen slaves, it was hoped 
that this generous offering which she had laid on the Altar of 
Liberty would have terminated forever that baleful agitation 
of the negro question, which has deluged the land with blood 
and has i-uined the fairest portion of this continent. The South 
acquiesced in the decree — though she was so blind as not to 
see the justice of it — which by one despotic stroke of the pen 
stripped her of . . her property and she . . endeavored to 
adapt herself to the new relations between the two races, which 
this decree had brought about. . . Humanity and Interest, 
which so seldom point In the same direction, in this case Im- 
pelled the South to do all In its power to fit the negro for his 
:icw conditions. The strong but paternal hand which had con- 
trolled him through centuries of slavery, having been suddenly 
and rudely withdrawn, the only hope of rendering him either 
useful, Industrious or harmless, was to elevate him in the scale 
of civilization, and to make him appreciate not only the bless- 
ings, but the duties of freedom. This was the prevalent . . senti- 
ment of the South and that much more has not been done to 
carry this sentiment into effect Is due solely to the pernicious 
and mischievous interference of that most vicious Institution, 
the Freedmen's Bureau. The war which was so prolific of 
monstrosities, new theories of republican government, new 
versions of the Constitution, new and Improved constructions of 
the Divine precepts of Holy Writ, gave birth to nothing which 
equals In deformity and depravity this "Monstrum horrendum 
informe Ingens." The whole machinery of this bureau has 
been used by the basest men, for the purpose of swindling the 
negro, plundering the white man and defrauding the Govern- 
ment. There may he an honest man connected with the Bureau, 
but I fear that the commissioners sent by your Excellency to 
probe the rottenness of this cancer will find their search for 
such as fruitless as was that of the Cynic of old. The report 
of these Commissioners furnishes ample justification for the ill- 



Estimates and Opinions o f the Bureaus Work 369 

will, the distrust, and the contempt with which the people of 
the South regard this baleful and pernicious institution. 



Influence in Labor and Politics 

Ku Klux Report. Alahama Testimony (1S71), pp. 357, 371. Stat*^- 
ment of A. D. Sayre, formerly a Whig. ' [1865-1870] 

When the agents first came there . . they established a Freed- 
man's Bureau. They notified everybody that they must em- 
ploy their freedmen, and that all their contracts must be sub- 
mitted to the inspection of the Freedmen's Bureau; that no man 
would be allowed to employ freedmen unless their contracts 
were submitted to and approved by that Bureau. . . They 
listened to every sort of tale that any dissatisfied negro might 
choose to tell; they would send out and arrest white men, bring 
them in under guard, try them, and put them in jail. They got 
hold of plantations there, what they call refuges for freedmen. 
It was announced that if the freedmen got dissatisfied they 
could enter there, and be fed and clothed, and taken care of. 
In that way a large number of negroes were enticed away from 
plantations where they had been living, and they flocked to 
these places. Hundreds of them died from neglect. The im- 
pression was produced upon the negro that the white man who 
had been his master was his enemy, and that these men were 
his peculiar friends; that they had nothing to expect . . 
through their old masters. They then commenced the estab- 
lishment of these Loyal Leagues, into which they got almost 
every negro in the country. They would send their agents 
. . from plantation to plantation, until I expect there was 
hardly a negro in the whole country who did not belong 
to the League. In that way a want of confidence was produced 
between the negro and the white man, and a feeling of con- 
fidence between the negro and the agents of this Bureau. It 
has been a very troublesome thing to counteract that. . . They 
would tell all sorts of tales before elections; they would send 
regular orders to the League members on the plantations to go 
and vote. I have been told that order extended to negroes from 
fifteen years and upwards. Negroes themselves have told me 



370 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

that they voted the republican ticket for the reason that they 
were informed by those men that, if they did not do it, they 
would be put back into slavery, and their wives made to work 
on the road. It had such an effect that a gentleman in Mont- 
gomery told me that some of his own former slaves came back 
to him after the election [1870] and said, "Well, massa, what 
house must I go into? I understand that the democrats have 
succeeded, and that we are slaves again." , . 

[If the Bureau had not been established] as many of the 
whites would have acted with the Republican party as with 
the Democratic party. . . It had a tendency to drive them off 
[the whites] from the Republican party. . . The Freedmen's 
Bureau was supposed to be one of the means of that party for 
the purpose of creating distrust between the negroes and the 
white people. 



The Bureau as a Political Machine 

Ku Klux Report, Georgia Testimony, p. 272. Testimony of General 
Wright of Augusta, ex-Confederate. [1865-1870] 

[The negroes] were taken possession of by a class of men who 
went down there connected in some way with the Freedmen's 
Bureau ; they swarmed all over the country. The white people 
were sore, intensely sore . . and they shrank back and had 
nothing to say to the negroes. That course of conduct on their 
part enabled these men to go on and obtain the confidence of 
the negroes; they made the negroes believe that unless they 
banded themselves together and stood up for their rights, the 
w^hite people would put them back into slavery. . , These men 
came there and fastened themselves upon every community, 
and when the election for members of the legislature came on 
they were themselves elected. I can give you an instance right 
there, within a stone's throw of where I live, of a man by the 
name of Captain Richardson, who went down there in the 
Bureau. He lived in Augusta, and was elected a member of 
the legislature from the county of Hancock, way up in the in- 
terior of the State; he perhaps never was in that country in his 
life. There was a man by the name of J. Mason Rice, who 



Estimates and Opinions of the Bureau's JVork 371 

came out in the Bureau, and lived in Augusta; he was elected a 
representative of the county of Columbia. A man of the name 
of Sherman came down there, not in the Bureau, but as a de- 
veloper. He bought a piece of land near Augusta, and worked 
rt for a while, and then had to give it up. He ran for the 
place of senator in the district composed of Wilkes, Jackson, 
and Columbia. Wilkes is the county in which Toombs lives. 
This man ran for senator, and was elected there. There was 
Rice, elected as a member from Columbia County, and never 
was in it; Richardson was elected as a member from Hancock 
County, and he never was in that county; and Sherman was 
elected as senator from Wilkes, Lincoln, and Columbia Coun- 
ties, and . . he has never been in either one of them. A 
man by the name of Claiborn, a Baltimore negro, came down to 
Augusta with the Bureau, and was elected a member of the 
legislature from Burke County. He served until a few 
months before the close of the legislature, when he was killed 
by a negro in the capital. . . Up to the latter part of 1868 the 
negroes believed that by voting they were going to get a division 
of the land and stock of the country. These carpet-baggers 
would go down there and actually sell stakes to them. That Is 
almost too improbable for belief ; but these rascals would go 
down there and sell painted stakes to these negroes, and tell 
them that all they had to do was to put down the stakes on their 
owner's farms, and forty acres of land would be theirs after 
election. You could see them all over the country. The 
negroes said they gave a dollar apiece for those stakes. They 
were xtry Ignorant, or they would not have believed such 
things; but they did believe it. 



Political Activities of Bureau Officials 

House Report no. lU, !,1 Gong., 2 Sess., pp. 47, 53. Extract from 
minority report, Howard investigation, 1870. [1865-1869] 

It was ascertained that the testimony offered would implicate 
others as high in position as General Howard himself, going to 
show that the Bureau had been made an active engine for the 
election of governors, legislators, members of Congress and 



372 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

United States senators in the Southern States, the public money 
and property being freely used for these purposes. The ma- 
jority of the committee would not allow any such field of 
investigation to be entered, and promptly refused to allow the 
witnesses ready to prove these facts to be subpoened or exam- 
ined. 

Sufficient evidence, however, did get in, to show that to 
such purposes the bureau was put. The general way in which 
the political operations were carried on was through the instru- 
mentality of the officers and willing agents of the bureau, the 
freedmen's schools and teachers, the missionaries sent out by 
the American Missionary Society, and the Freedmen's Savings 
Bank. The funds of the bureau were used by each of these. 
. . Under the pretext of looking after the education and wel- 
fare of the freedmen, political organizations were effected, 
and the negroes instructed as to their political strength and 
power, by organizing them together in secret organizations. 
The poor freedman, deceived by pretended friendship . . fell 
Into the purposes of these men, and submitted himself to the 
uses to which they put him. General Howard not only knew 
of this, but was the head of the movement. He proved this 
upon himself after the majority refused to hear further proof 
in support of the charges, by putting in as evidence the offi- 
cial report of Colonel John T. Sprague, assistant commissioner 
for Florida. This report was made to General Howard, and 
is dated October i, 1867. Under the head of "politics and 
public meetings," he gives Howard an account of his political 
operations, and boasts having "registered 15,441 negro voters, 
against 11,151 registered whites," and states that he had 
"taken measures for their quiet instruction, through the med- 
ium of sub-assistants, in their rights and duties under the 
reconstruction acts." . . 

The Freedmen's Bureau has been made a mighty engine of 
power, by which to control an entire section of the Union, and 
bring It under partisan subserviency. To accomplish this, the 
public treasury has been freely used in various ways. Emis- 
saries have been dispatched to the South with the Bible in one 



Estimates and Opinions of the Bureau's Work 373 

hand and the purse in the other, and who have been backed up 
and sustained by both the military and civil power of the 
government. . . 

Under the pretense of giving him protection, the negro was 
plundered of his just dues; under the pretense of teaching him 
religion and morality he was taught a hatred of his best 
friends; under an avowed object of teaching him his political 
rights and duties, he was drilled into a voting machine, and 
made tributary to the aspirations of those who said they came 
to enlighten him; under the plea of shielding him from opposi- 
tion, hard labor was wrung from him, and his little earnings, 
once obtained as deposits in freedmen's savings banks, were 
used for the profit of those who had the control of them. 

This bureau had its ramifications everywhere. Its officers 
and agents were to be found in every State, county, and voting 
precinct of the South; no election could be held but that some 
of them w^ere found on the spot, exercising political power over 
the new-made citizens, and the leading candidates for the 
principal offices w^ere the self-nominated representatives of the 
Freedmen's Bureau. 

A majority of the members of the legislatures of the so- 
called reconstructed States last year were either taken from 
this class, or the immediate dependents of it; the civil gov- 
ernment, what there was of it, was in their hands. The bureau 
was the great absorbent of the only civil authority there. 



The Workings of the Bureau 

Ku Klux Report (1871), p. 441. Views of the minority of the Ku 
Klux Committee. [1865-1868] 

Even while the Federal Government was administering their 
affairs through direct agencies from Washington, they were 
oppressed and plundered by the Freedmen's Bureau agencies, 
by the cotton thieves, and the military, to an extent only exceed- 
ed by the carpet-bag local governments which superseded them. 
First, as to the Freedmen's Bureau and its operations. By 
this act, four millions of negroes became the pupils, wards, ser- 
vitors, and pliant tools of a political and extremely partisan 



374 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

agency, inimical and deadly hostile to the peace, order, and 
best interests of southern society. Under the workings of the 
Reconstruction and Freedmen's Bureau acts the foundations 
of social and political order were uprooted and overturned; the 
former master became the slave, and the former slave became 
the master, the elector, the law-maker, and the ostensible ruler. 
The agents of the Freedmen's Bureau were, as we have shown 
before, generally of a class of fanatics without character or 
responsibility, and were selected as fit instruments to execute 
the partisan and unconstitutional behests of a most unscrupulous 
head. Thus, the negroes were organized into secret political 
societies known as Loyal Leagues, in which organizations they 
were taught that their former owners were their worst enemies, 
and that to act with them, politically or religiously, would cer- 
tainly result in their re-enslavement. A regulation of this 
Bureau required all agreements for service between whites and 
blacks to be signed and witnessed in the presence of, and left 
in the custody of the agent. It was a common practice, after 
a planter or farmer had contracted in the required form with 
the freedmen for the year, had his crops planted and in pro- 
cess of cultivation, that his negro laborers would suddenly 
strike for higher wages. Nothing but the intervention of the 
Bureau agent could induce them to return, and that inducement 
could only be effected by the planter or farmer paying to the 
agent from ten to twenty dollars per head. This sum was 
simply a perquisite of the agent, and when paid, the negro 
always returned to his labors, though not receiving a cent of 
additional compensation. It was frequently the case that the 
sa'TiC planter or farmer would have to compensate the Bureau 
agent from two to three times during one year, or lose his 
crops. This system of ingenious blackmailing produced no 
little irritation, and frequently total bankruptcy of the planter. 
These Bureau agents had authority to order the arrest and 
imprisonment of any citizen on the single statement of any 
vicious negro; and if any resistance was made to the mandates 
of the Bureau agent, the post commandant, or military govern- 
or, was always ready to enforce it with a file of bayonets. 



Estimates and Opinions of the Bure au's Work 375 

Many of the agents of the Bureau were preachers, and had 
been selected as being the most devout, zealous, and loyal of 
that religious sect known as the Northern Methodist Church. 

The negroes were told in the Leagues that, although they 
had been married according to the plantation custom for forty 
or fifty years, as freedmen they must procure a license from 
the court and be remarried. This injunction was most scrup- 
ulously obeyed, and by this means the missionaries and preach- 
ers made large sums of money, which was thus frequently 
extorted from old, poor, and ignorant negroes, who had grand- 
children and great-grandchildren. 



Success of the Bureau 

House Report no. 121, J,l Cong., 2 8ess., (ISTl), p. 20. Quotation 
from Sidney Andrews, a newspaper correspondent from New Eng- 
land. [1865-1869] 

Of the thousand things that the bureau has done no balance 
sheet can ever be made. How it helped the ministers of the 
church, saved the blacks from robbery and persecution, en- 
forced respect for the negro's rights, instructed all the people 
in the meaning of the law, threw itself against the strongholds 
of intemperance, settled neighborhood quarrels, brought about 
amicable relations between employer and employed, comforted 
the sorrowful, raised up the down-hearted, corrected bad habits 
among whites and blacks, restored order, sustained contracts 
for work, compelled attention to the statute books, collected 
claims, furthered local educational movements, gave sanctity 
to the marriage relation, dignified labor, strengthened men and 
women in good resolutions, rooted out old prejudices, ennobled 
the home, assisted the freedmen to become land-owners, brought 
offenders to justice, broke up bands of outlaws, overturned the 
class-rule of ignorance, led bitter hearts into brighter ways, 
shamed strong hearts into charity and forgiveness, promulgated 
the new doctrine of equal rights, destroyed the seeds of mis- 
trust and antagonism, cheered the despondent, set idlers at 
work, aided in the reorganization oi society, carried the light 
of the North into the dark places of the South, steadied the 



37^ Documentary History of Reconstruction 

negro In his struggle with novel ideas, inculcated kindly feeling, 
checked the passion of the whites and blacks, opened the blind 
eyes of judges and jurors, taught the gospel of forbearance, 
encouraged human sympathy, distributed the generous chari- 
ties of the benevolent, upheld loyalty, assisted in creating a 
sentiment of nationality — how it did all this and a hundred- 
fold more, who shall ever tell? What pen shall ever 
record? . . 

Success! The world can point to nothing like It In all the 
history of emancipation. No thirteen millions of dollars were 
ever more wisely spent ; yet, from the beginning this scheme has 
encountered the bitterest opposition and the most unrelenting 
hate. Scoffed at like a thing of shame, often struck and sorely 
wounded, sometimes In the house of its friends, apologized 
for rather than defended; yet with God on Its side, the Freed- 
men's Bureau has triumphed; civilization has received a new 
impulse, and the friends of humanity" may well rejoice. The 
bureau work Is being rapidly brought to a close, and Its accom- 
plishments will enter Into history, while the unfounded accusa- 
tion brought against it will be forgotten. There Is a day and 
hour when slander lives not. When the passions of men sub- 
side, and when the dust of time has well fallen, then comes 
the hour of calmer judgment. Many-tongued scandal has the 
briefest of existence. . . Evil is quickly forgotten ; truth alone 
is abiding. 

A Negro's Description of the Bureau 

John Wallace, Carpet Bag Rule in Florida, pp. 41, 107. [1868] 

The Freedmen's Bureau, an Institution de\nsed by Congress 
under the influence of the very best people of the Northern 
States, and Intended as a means of protection for the freed- 
.men, and preparing them for the new responsibilities and priv- 
ileges conferred, In the hands of bad men proved. Instead of a 
blessing, to be the worst curse of the race, as under it he was 
misled, debased, and betrayed. The agents of this Bureau 
were stationed In all the cities and principal towns In the State. 
They overruled the local authorities with the arbitrary force of 



Estimates and Opiniojis of the Bureaus Work 



111 



military power. Before it \Yas definitely known that the Con- 
gress of the United States could confer the right of suffrage 
upon the negro the great majority of the agents were more 
oppressive of the freedmen than the local authorities, their 
former masters. The State having been impoverished by the 
war, the national government, realizing the condition of the 
people, and especially of the freedmen, who were set free with 
nothing but the scant clothing on their backs, sent provisions 
to the State to be distributed to such of the freedmen as were 
struggling, without means of subsistence, to make a crop. This 
meat and flour was placed in the hands of these agents for 
distribution, who appropriated It at their discretion, and fre- 
quently mxore largely for their own benefit than that of their 
wards. The Commissioner of the Bureau for the State, in 
company with a retired army officer, carried on a large planta- 
tion on the Apalachlcola, until General Steadman was appoint- 
ed to examine and report upon the condition of Bureau affairs, 
when, In anticipation of his visit to the State his Interest was 
suddenly transferred to his partner, who, after gathering and 
disposing of the cotton crop and all available stock on the 
place, gathered himself up and left without paying the rents. 
M, L. Stearns, a subordinate agent at Quincy, was publicly 
charged with the wholesale disposition of pork and flour, and 
evidence was produced to convict him of receiving and at- 
tempting to force collection of a mortgage for $750 received 
in payment for provisions; but the officers of the Federal Court 
refused to entertain this case. . . , 

As soon as the freedmen Vv'ere enfranchised they began to re- 
ceive better treatment at the hands of the Bureau agents. The 
contracts between them and the planters, which had heretofore 
been Interpreted against them, were now more fairly construed 
in their interest. . . 

He [Purman, a Bureau agent] played upon the weaknesses 
and impulses of the colored people and drew from them shouts 
of joy, and responses of applause and approval with the skill 
and ease a master organist brings out the great swells of music 
by a gentle touch of the key. These would occur when he was 



37^ Documentary History of Reconstruction 

eloquently depicting to his eager listening audiences the horrors 
of slavery and the cruelty and oppression they had undergone. 
Every device was resorted to by these agents to embitter the 
colored man against the white man ; and with the powers they 
possessed, it is no wonder they succeeded upon material so 
easily misled. 

What incendiary harangues failed to accomplish they sought 
to do by exhibitions of their power over the whites, which they 
displayed in frequent acts of the grossest tyranny. They set 
at defiance the orders and decrees of the courts of justice when 
the matters involved were mere questions of right between two 
citizens, neither of whom vvere freedmen. They arrested and 
imprisoned peaceable citizens without any real cause, and re- 
fused to furnish them or their counsel with the charges upon 
which they were held. On one occasion they had brought 
before them two young ladies of the highest respectability on 
the charge of removing flowers from a Union soldier's grave, 
who protested their inocence and offered to prove it without 
the insult and humiliation of being arraigned at bureau head- 
quarters; but their appeals were in vain, and they were forced 
to appear and stand up and unveil themselves in the presence 
of Hamilton to answer the charge, which no witness could be 
found to sustain. 

Among their duties as agents of the Freedmen's Bureau, was 
the supervising of labor contracts between the freedmen and 
their employers. For this service they charged each freedman 
twenty-five cents and the employer fifty cents. An enterprising 
and intelligent citizen of the county happening to Washington, 
called upon General Howard, the head of the Bureau, and 
inquired of him if his agents were allowed to do such things. 
The General informed him they were not, and requested him 
to furnish him with evidence of this being done in any case. 
Thereupon the gentleman prepared and posted notices request- 
ing those who had receipts for moneys so paid to present them 
to him, or, in his absence, to a designated agent. This gen- 
tleman and his agent were immediately arrested and kept in 
confinement without charges being preferred against them until 



Estimates and Opinions of the Bureau's Work 379 

one of them was taken dangerously ill, when they were dis- 
charged out of fear of the consequences. Four young farm- 
ers, who w^orked a large number of freedmen under a contract 
approved and ratified by these agents, were arrested and im- 
prisoned for doing what was provided in said contract, and 
without any charges or causes assigned, though the officers 
were repeatedly requested to furnish them. The men were 
discharged at the pleasure of the agents of the bureau. Many 
other minor acts might be mentioned showing a persistent de- 
termination to alienate the races and breed strife. 

These deeds of tyranny and oppression were resorted to for 
the double purpose of demonstrating their power to the col- 
ored people and of humiliating the Whites. Of course they 
bore their legitimate fruit and naturally awakened feelings of 
the bitterest hostility among the people who were the victims 
of such injustice and insult. While the colored people were 
not responsible for these misdeeds, they were inevitably drawn 
Into the troubles which ensued and doubtless encouraged to 
commit the first act of bloodshed which opened that eventful 
chapter in the history of Jackson County. 



Charges against General Howard 

Congressional Globe. April C, 1870, p. 2G41. The opposition to 
General 0. O. Howard, commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau, 
culminated in the investigation made in 1870. The resolutions 
below w^ere introduced into the House by Fernando Wood of 
New York. The testimony taken is in House Report no. 121, J/1 
Cong., 2 ^ess.. The majority report exonerated Howard, the mi- 
nority held the opposite view. [April G, 1870] 

Upon information and belief I charged that General O. O. 
Howard, Commissioner of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen 
and Abandoned Lands, has been guilty of malversation and 
dereliction of duty, inasmuch as — 

First. That he has taken from the appropriations made for, 
and the receipts of, that bureau more than five hundred thou- 
sand dollars, improperly and without authority of law, for the 
Howard University, hospital and lands. . . 

Second. That portions of the land alleged to have been sold 
for the benefit of the Howard University fund were disposed 



380 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

of improperly to members of his own family and officers of 
his staff. 

Third. That bonds issued in aid of the First Congrega- 
tional church of the city of Washington were taken in pay- 
ment for a portion of this land, which have not yet been re- 
deemed or paid, nor have they been returned in his official 
accounts as such. 

Fourth. That the University building and Hospital were 
built of patent brick furnished by the American Building-Block 
Company, in which General Howard, Charles Howard, Gen- 
eral E. Whittlesey, and J. W. Alvord, all attached to the 
bureau, were interested as stockholders. 

Fifth. That the specifications of the construction of those 
buildings provided that the material used in their erection 
should be taken from the brick made by this company; thus 
preventing competition, and securing the use of that brick, and 
no other, for that purpose. . . 

Seventh. That by his consent and with his knowledge lum- 
ber belonging to the government was used by this company 
and appropriated to its own benefit, being resold to its em- 
ployes. 

Eighth. That he pays rent to the Howard University from 
the funds of the bureau for the privilege of a headquarters. 

Ninth. That he draws three salaries, namely, one as a 
brigadier general in the United States Army, another as Com- 
missioner of the Freedmen's Bureau, and a third as head of 
the Howard University. 

Tenth. That he has paid from the funds of the bureau 
over forty thousand dollars for the construction of the First 
Presbyterian church, in this city, taking the church bonds in 
return, which he has either returned in his accounts as cash 
on hand, or sent south for the purposes of the bureau. 

Eleventh. He has advanced a large sum from the funds of 
the bureau to the Young Men's Christian Association of this 
city, taking their bonds in payment, which have been sent to 
Tennessee to help the freedmen's schools in that State. 

Twelfth. That he caused or knowingly allowed lands in 



Estimates and Opinions of the Bureau's Work 381 

this city, owned by an officer of the bureau, to be transferred 
to a freedmen's school in North Carolina; the officer taking 
the money appropriated for that school, and the school the 
lands in the city; thus perpetrating a fraud both upon the 
government and the freedmen. 

Thirteenth. That he was interested in the purchase of a 
farm of about three hundred acres near the Lunatic Asylum 
in this county, for which the public funds and other property 
of the government were used. Buildings were erected thereon, 
built of lumber belonging to the government, and then let or 
sold to freedmen at exorbitant prices; and that he and his 
brother, Charles Howard, were personally interested in this 
transaction as a private pecuniary speculation. 

Fourteenth. He has discharged the duties of the office of 
Commissioner of the bureau with extravagance, negligence and 
in the interests of himself and family and intimate friends. 

Fifteenth. That he is one of the ring known as the "Freed- 
men's bureau ring," whose connections and influences with the 
freedmen's savings banks, the freedmen's schools of the South, 
the political machinery of a party in the Southern States, and 
whose position has been to devote the official authority and 
power of the bureau to personal and political profit. 



THE FREEDMEN'S BANK 



Act Incorporating the Freedmen's Bank 

Acts and Resolutions, 38 Cong., 2 8ess., p. 99. The name of S. P. 
Chase inserted by amendment in the list of trustees, was omitted 
in the published act. [March 3, 1865] 

Be it etiacted . . That Peter Cooper, William C. Bryant, A. A. 

Low, S. B. Chittenden, Charles H. Marshall, William A. 

Booth, Gerritt Smith, William A. Hall, William Allen, John 

Jay, Abraham Baldwin, A. S. Barnes, Hiram Barney, Seth B. 

Hunt, Samuel Holmes, Charles Collins, R. R. Graves, Walter 

S. Griffith, A. H. Wallis, D. S. Gregory, J. W. Alvord, George 

Whipple, A. S. Hatch, E. A. Lambert, W. G. Lambert, Roe 

Lockwood, R. H. Manning, R. W. Ropes, Albert Woodruff, 

and Thomas Denny, of New York; John M. Forbes, William 

Claflin, S. G. Howe, George L. Stearns, Edward Atkinson, 

A. A. Lawrence, and John M, S. Williams, of Massachusetts; 
Edward Harris and Thomas Davis, of Rhode Island; Stephen 
Colwell, J. Wheaton Smith, Francis E. Cope, Thomas Webster, 

B. S. Hunt, and Henr\' Samuel, of Pennsylvania; Edward 
Harwood, Adam Poe, Levi Coffin, J. M. Walden, of Ohio, 
and their successors, are constituted a body corporate in the 
city of Washington, in the District of Columbia, by the name 
of the Freedman's Savings and Trust Company, and by that 
name may sue and be sued in any court of the United States. 

Sec. 5. . . The general business and object of the corpor- 
ation hereby created shall be, to receive on deposit such sums of 
money as may, from time to time, be offered therefor, by or on 
behalf of persons heretofore held in slavery in the United States, 
or their descendants, and investing the same in the stocks, bonds, 
Treasury notes, or other securities of the United States. 

Sec. II. . . In the case of the death of any depositor, 
whose deposit shall not be held upon any trust created pursuant 
to the provisions hereinbefore contained, or where it may prove 
impossible to execute such trust, it shall be the duty of the 
corporation to make diligent efforts to ascertain and discover 
whether such deceased depositor has left a husband, wife, or 
children surviving, and the corporation shall keep a record of 

382 



The Freedmen's Bank 383 



the effects so made, and of the results thereof; and in case no 
person Lawfully entitled thereto shall be discovered or shall 
appear, or claim the funds remaining to the credit of such 
depositor before the expiration of two years from the death 
of such depositor, it shall be lawful for the corporation to 
hold and invest such funds as a separate trust fund, to be 
applied, with the accumulations thereof, to the education and 
improvement of persons heretofore held in slavery, or their 
descendants, being inhabitants of the United States, in such 
manner and through such agencies as the board of trustees 
shall deem best calculated to effect that object: Provided, 
That if any depositor be not heard from within five years from 
the date of his last deposit, the trustees shall advertise the 
same in some paper of general circulation in the State where 
the depositor was last heard from; and if, within two years 
thereafter such depositor shall not appear, nor a husband, 
wife, or child of such depositor, to claim his deposits, they 
shall be used by the board of trustees as hereinbefore pro- 
vided for in this section. . . 

In Successful Operation 

Honse Ex. Doc. no. 70, o9 Cong., 1 Sess. Report of J. W. Alvord, 
inspector of Bureau schools. Alvord was the founder of the 
Freedmen's Bank. [January 1, 186G] 

The Savings and Trust Company for freedmen . . has gone 
into successful operation in nearly all the States south, and 
promises to do much to instruct and elevate the financial notions 
of the freedmen. The trustees and friends of the institution 
believe that the industry of these four millions furnishes a solid 
basis for its operations. Pauperism can be brought to a close; 
the freedmen made self-supporting and prosperous, paying for 
their educational and Christian institutions, and helping to 
bear the burdens of government by inducing habits of saving 
m what they earn. That which savings banks have done for 
the working men of the north it Is presumed they are capable 
of doing for these laborers. I was privately and publicly told 
that the freedmen welcomed the institution. They understand 
our explanations of its meaning, and the more intelligent see 



u^ 



384 Documentary History of Reconstruction 



and appreciate fully its benefits. Calls were made upon me 
at all the large towns for branches of the bank. 

Information and Instruction 

Bank 'book and circulars. The following extracts were printed on 
the coA^ers of the pass books and in the circulars sent out among 
the n '■oes. [1865] 

A MAN ho saves ten cents a day every day for ten years, will 

have, if he puts it at interest at six per cent. — 

In I year he will have . . $ 36-99 

In 2 years he will have . . 76 . 20 

In 3 years he will have . . 11 7. 81 

In 4 years he will have . . 161.94 

In 5 years he will have . . 208.74 

In 6 years he will have . . 258.42 

In 7 years he will have . . 31 1 . 13 

In 8 years he will have . . 367.03 

In 9 years he will have . . 426.37 

In 10 years he will have . . 489 . 3 1 

"I consider the Freedmen's Savings and Trust Company to 

be greatly needed by the colored people, and have welcomed 

it as an auxiliary to the Freedmen's Bureau." — Maj. Gen. 

O. O. Howard. 

" 'Tis little by little the bee fills her cell; 
And little by little a man sinks a well; 

'Tis little by little a bird builds her nest; 

By littles a forest in verdure is drest; 
'Tis little by little great volumes are made; 
By littles a mountain or levels are made; 

'Tis little by little an ocean is filled; 

And little by little a city we build; 
'Tis little by little an ant gets her store; 
Every little we add to a little makes more; 

Step by step we walk miles, and we sew stitch by stitch; 

Word by word we read books, cent by cent we grow rich." 



This is a benevolent institution. All profits go to the depos- 
itors, or to educational purposes for the freedmen and their 
descendants. 

The whole institution is under the charter of Congress, and 
received the com.mendation and countenance of the President, 
Abraham Lincoln. One of the last official acts of his valued 
life was the signing of the bill which gave legal existence to 
this bank. 



The Freedmens Bank 



38s 



Statistics of Savings 



House Misc. Doc. no. 16, 39 Cong., 2 Sess., pp. 61, 91. The bank was 
insolvent after 1872 and it collapsed in 1874 owing depositors the 
amounts shown in the second table. The total business done was 
about $56,000,000. [1866-1874] 

Table showing the relative business of the company 
for each fiscal year :s9 



For Year ending Total Amount of 


Total Amount of 


Balance Due 


March 1 Deposits 


Drafts 


Dep">sitors 


1866 


. :$ 305,167.00 


$ 105,883.58 


$ 199,283.42 


1867 


. 1 1,624,853.33 


1,258,515.00 


366,338.33 


1868 


3,582,378.36 


2,944,079.36 


638,299.00 


1869 


7,257,798.63 


6,184,333-32 


1,073,465-31 


1870 


12,605,781.95 


10,948,775.20 


1,657,006.75 


187I 


19,952,647.36 


17,497,111.25 


2,455,836.11 



Amount of deposi 
Saving's and 



BRANCHES 


DEPOSITS 


Alexandria, Va. 


$ 21,584 


Atlanta, Ga. 


28,404 


Augusta, Ga. 


96,882 


Baltimore, Md. 


303,947 


Beaufort, S. C. 


65,592 


Charleston, S. C. 


255,345 


Columbus, Miss. 


18,857 


Columbia, Tenn. 


19,823 


Huntsvllle, Ala. 


35,963 


Jacksonvnlle, Fla. 


22,022 


Lexington, Ky. 


34,193 


Little Rock, Ark, 


17,728 


Louisville, Ky. 


137,094 


Lynchburg, Va. 


19,967 


Macon, Ga. 


54,342 


Memphis, Tenn. 


96,755 


Mobile, Ala. 


95,144 



/ at the various branches of the Freedmen's 
Trust Company, February 14, 18J4. 

BRANCHES DEPOSITS 

Montgomery, Ala. $ 29,743 

Natchez, Miss. 22,195 

Nashville, Tenn. 78,525 

New Berne, N. C. 40,621 

New Orleans, La. 240,006 

New York, N. Y. 344,07 1 

Norfolk, Va. 126,337 

Philadelphia, Pa. 84,657 

Raleigh, N. C. 26,703 

Richmond, Va. 166,000 

Savannah, Ga. 153,425 

Shreveport, La. 30,312 

Saint Louis, Mo. 58,397 

Tallahassee, Fla. 40,207 

Vicksburg, Miss. 104,348 

Washington, D. C. 384,789 

Wilmington, N. C. 45,223 
$3,299,201 



386 Documentary History of Reconstruction 



Frederick Douglass and the Freedmen's Bank 

Life and Times of Frederick Douglass by Himself, p. 487. Used by 
permission of De Wolfe, Fiske and Co. Copyright, 1885. Doug- 
lass was made president of the Bank a few weeks before it failed. 
Those who wrecked the Bank withdrew. [1874] 

It is not altogether without a feeling of humiliation that I must 
narrate my connection with the "Freedmen's Savings and Trust 
Company." 

This was an institution designed to furnish a place of secur- 
ity and profit for the hard earnings of the colored people, es- 
pecially at the South. . . There was something missionary in 
Its disposition, and it dealt largely in exhortations as well as 
promises. The men connected with its management were gen- 
erally church members, and reputed eminent for their piety. 
Some of its agents had been preachers of the "Word." Their 
aim was how to instil into the minds of the untutored Africans 
lessons of sobriety, wisdom, and economy, and to show them 
how to rise in the world. Like snowflakes in winter, circulars, 
tracts, and other papers were, by this benevolent institution, 
scattered among the sable millions, and they were told to 
"look" to the Freedmen's Bank and "live." Branches were 
established in all the Southern States, and as a result, money to 
the amount of millions flowed into its vault. With the usual 
effect of sudden wealth, the managers felt like making a little 
display of their prosperity'. They accordingly erected on one 
of the most desirable and expensive sites in the national capital, 
one of the most costly and splendid buildings of the time, fin- 
ished on the inside with black v/alnut and furnished with 
marble counters and all the modern improvements. . . 

I had read of this bank when I lived in Rochester, and had 
indeed been solicited to become one of its trustees and had 
reluctantly consented to do so; but when I came to Wash- 
ington and saw its magnificent brovrn stone front, its towering 
height, its perfect appointments and the fine display it made in 
the transaction of its business, I felt like the Queen of Sheba 
when she saw the riches of Solomon, that "the half has not 
been told to me." . . 

My confidence in the integrity and wisdom of the manage- 
ment was such that at one time I had entrusted to its vaults 



TJie Freedmen's Bank 



387 

about twelve thousand dollars. It seemed fit to mc to cast 
in my lot with my brother freedmen and to help build up an 
institution which represented their thrift and economy to so 
strilcing advantage; for the more millions accumulated there, I 
thought, the more consideration and respect would be shown 'to 
the colored people of the whole country. 

About four months before this splendid institution was com- 
pelled to close its doors in the starved and deluded faces of Its 
depositors, and while I was assured by its President and by its 
Actuary of its sound condition, I was solicited by some of its 
trustees to allow them to use my nam.e in the board as a candi- 
date for its presidency. So I walked up one morning to find 
myself seated in a comfortable arm chair, with gold spectacles 
on my nose, and to hear myself addressed as President of the 
Freedmen's Bank. I could not help reflecting on the contrast 
between Frederick, the slave boy, running about . . with only a 
tow linen shirt to cover him, and Frederick, President of a 
bank counting its assets by millions. . . My term of service 
on this golden height covered only the brief space of three 
months, and these three months were divided Into two parts, 
during the first part of which I was quietly employed In an 
effort to find out the real condition of the bank and Its numer- 
ous branches. . . I was encouraged In the belief that by cur- 
tailing the expenses, and doing away with non-paying branches, 
which policy the trustees had now adopted, Ave could be carried 
safely through the financial distress then upon the country. 
So confident was I of this, that In order to meet what was said 
to be a tiemporary emergency, I was Induced to loan the bank 
ten thousand dollars of my own money, to be held by It until 
it could realize on a part of Its abundant securities. . . The 
more I observed and learned the more my confidence diminished. 
I found that those trustees who wished to Issue cards, and 
publish addresses professing the utmost confidence In the bank, 
had themselves not one dollar deposited there. Some of them, 
while strongly assuring me of its soundness, had withdrawn their 
money and opened accounts elsewhere. Gradually I discov- 
ered that the bank had through dishonest agents, sustained 



388 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

heavy losses at the South; that there was a discrepancy on the 
books of forty thousand dollars for which no account could be 
given, and that, instead of our assets being equal to our lia- 
bilities, we could not in all likelihood . . pay seventy-two cents 
on the dollar. There was an air of mystery . . which greatly 
troubled me, and which I have only been able to explain to 
myself on the supposition that the employees . . were . . 
naturally anxious to hold their places, and consequently have 
the business continued. . . 

I found the path of enquiry I was pursuing an exceedingly 
difficult one. I knew that there had been a heavy draft made 
upon its reserved fund, but I did not know, what I should 
have been told before being allowed to enter upon the duties of 
my office, that this reserve, which the bank by its charter was 
required to keep, had been entirely exhausted and that hence 
there was nothing left to meet any future emergency. . . I was 
in six weeks after my election as president of this bank, con- 
vinced that it was no longer a safe custodian of the hard earn- 
ings of my confiding people. This conclusion once reached, I 
could not hesitate as to my duty in the premises and this was, 
to save as much as possible of the assets held by the bank for 
the benefit of the depositors; and to prevent their being further 
squandered in keeping up appearances, and in paying the salar- 
ies of myself and other officers in the bank. . . I felt it my duty 
to make known as speedily as possible to Hon. John Sherman, 
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, and to Senator 
Scott of Pennsylvania . . that I regarded the institution as 
insolvent and irrecoverable, and that I could no longer ask 
my people to deposit their money in it. This representation to 
the finance committee subjected me to very bitter opposition on 
the part of the officers of the bank. Its actuary, Mr. Stickney, 
immediately summoned some of the trustees, a dozen or so of 
them, to go before the finance committee and make a counter 
statement to that made by me. . . Some of them who had as- 
sisted me by giving me facts showing the insolvency of the bank, 
now made haste to contradict that conclusion and to assure the 
committee that it was, if allowed to go on, abundantly able to 



The Freedmen's Bank 380 



weather the financial storm and pay dollar for dollar to its 
depositors. . . 

I, however, adhered to my statement that the bank ought to 
stop. The finance committee substantially agreed with me 
and in a few weeks so legislated, by appointing three commis- 
sioners to take charge of its affairs, as to bring this imposing 
banking business to a close. 



Investigation of the Bank 

House ^ Report, no. .jOl -J.} Cong.. 1 ^ess. From the report of a 
Committee of Congress, signed by Democrats and Republicans. 

[1876] 
As a befitting introduction to their report your committee offer 
the following brief account of the origin, structure, and early 
history of the institution commonly known as the Freedmen's 
Bank, from which . . it will be easy to discern how naturally 
it degenerated into a monstrous swindle and justifies a suspicion 
that it was . . merely a scheme of selfishness under the guise 
of philanthropy, and to its confiding victims an Incorporate 
body of false pretenses. While the civil war was still in pro- 
gress it had occurred to some of the generals of the Federal 
armies that depositories for receiving and keeping the pay and 
bounties of the colored Union soldiers would be a convenient 
and necessary provision for their benefit, and accordingly mili- 
tary savings banks were established at Norfolk, Va., and at 
Beaufort, S. C. They seemed to have been well-timed and 
suitable to the object in view, as the colored soldiers eagerly 
availed themselves for depositing therein such portions of their 
pay and bounties as they did not need for their own Immediate 
use, and large sums were found to have accumulated in them 
when hostilities ceased. From some cause or other, but doubt- 
less by the death of many, the dispersion of the survivors, and 
the prevailing Ignorance of the class of depositors, this money 
remained uncalled for. . . To utilize this fund and to collect 
and turn to profit the large sums still due and to be paid by 
the Government seemed to have led to the conception of the 
idea of a Freedmen's Savings and Trust Company. . . The 
Freedmen's Bureau, so redolent of evil under specious guise. 



390 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

and an adept In the ways and means of squandering money, 
readily supplied the personal agencies for the undertaking. Of 
these the chief and founder of the so-called Freedmen's Bank 
was one John W. Alvord, an attache of the bureau, and super- 
intendent of its educational department. This man . . 
abounding in pious platitudes about the good of mankind in 
general, but with a keen eye to the main chance . . having 
proved a failure in both lay and clerical pursuits . . now turned 
his benevolent regards to the confiding and Ignorant black 
element of the South. He got up the charter for the bank, 
a charter so singular in Its array of high and eminent names for 
corporators, for Its business organization, whereby nine out of 
fifty trustees were constituted a quorum, and so utterly and 
entirely without safeguards or protection for those who were 
to become its patrons and depositors that It Is hard to believe 
that Its author, whatever might have been his other deficiencies, 
did not thoroughly understand how to organize cunning against 
simplicity and m.ake it pay for the pleasure of being cheated. 
As no Intentional injustice Is designed by your committee in their 
search for and exposure of the men who are responsible for the 
outrages perpetrated upon the colored people by the bank, we 
desire to say right here that many of the distinguished and emin- 
ently worthy gentlemen who figure In the charter never gave the 
use of their names and never accepted or took to execute the 
trust It created. They were thrust In for appearance' sake and 
to make the delusion attractive and complete. Some who really 
believed In the good professions of the projectors of the scheme 
and Its adaptability to promote the welfare of those for whose 
benefit it was apparently intended, and who at first took seats 
at the board of trustees, quickly vacated them in disgust and 
the whole management soon devolved, as v.^as manifestly the 
intention that it should do, upon a cabal In Washington, consist- 
ing of a small minority of the acting trustees. . . 

Theoretically the design and the structure of the bank were 
admirable. The pecuniary benefit of the freedmen, and the 
moral and social advantages which attend upon material pros- 
perity, were the avowed objects. The various benefits of this 
beneficent scheme were so divided and allotted out to boards 



The Freed men's Bank 291 



and committees as seemingly to insure efficiency and fidelity in 
the officers and agents, and proper guarantees to depositors. 
But the human instrumentalities on which the system depended 
for its successful operation were lamentably defective. . 
The law lent no efficacy to the moral obligations assumed by 
the trustees, officers, and agents, and the whole concern inev- 
itably became as a "whited sepulchre." . . The inspectors 
were of little or no value, either through the connivance and 
ignorance of the inspectors or the indifference of the trustees 
to their reports. . . The committee of examination . . were still 
more careless and inefficient, while the board of trustees, as a 
supervising and administrative body, intrusted with the fullest 
power of general control over the management, proved utterly 
faithless to the trust reposed in them. Everything was left 
to the actuary and finance committee. Such was the practical 
working of the machine. . . 

The depositors were of small account now compared with 
the personal interest of the political jobbers, real-estate pools, 
and fancy-stock speculators, who were organizing a raid upon 
the freedmen's money and resorted to . . amendment of the 
charter to facilitate their operations. The District [of Colum- 
bia] gov^ernment, too, came in to hasten and profit by the work 
of spoliation thus inaugurated. Its treasury was wholly un- 
equal to the task of sustaining the magnificent expenditures of 
the board of public works, presided over by H. D. Cooke, 
and controlled by Mr. A. R. Shepherd. Some exchequer must 
be found to advance upon the depreciated bonds and worthless 
auditor's certificates of the District, or the contracts must fail, 
and the speculations of the pool and of Shepherd and his friends 
in out-of-the-way and unimproved town lots come to grief. 
This mass of putridity, the District government, now abhorred 
of all men, and abandoned and repudiated even by the political 
authors of its being, was represented in the bank by no less 
than five of its high officers, viz., H. D. Cooke, George W. 
Balloch, Wm. S. Huntington, D. L. Eaton, and Z. B. Rich- 
ards, all of whom were in one way or other concerned in 
speculations [involving] a free use of the funds of the Freed- 



392 Documentary History of ReconstriictioTi 

man's Bank. They were high in power, too, with the domi- 
nant influence in Congress, as the legislation they asked or 
sanctioned and obtained, fully demonstrated. Thus it was that 
without consulting the wishes or regarding the interests of those 
I most concerned — the depositors — the vaults of the bank 
^ were literally thrown open to unscrupulous greed and rapacity. 
The toilsome savings of the poor negroes, hoarded and laid 
by for a rainy day, through the carelessness and dishonest con- 
nivance of their self-constituted guardians, melted away. . . 

Your committee call attention to the books of the bank. 
Their condition indicates a settled purpose, running through a 
series of years, to muddle and confuse accounts so as to make 
them unintelligible. . . If nothing more than an occasional 
mistake or slight "irregularity" occurred, it might be set down, 
perhaps, to the inexperience of the book-keepers or the want of 
clerical force to write up the books properly. . . But it is far 
otherwise. The books are mutilated and defaced — leaves 
cut out in some places and firmly pasted together in others 
— without proper indexes to guide and direct the searcher into 
their hidden mysteries — abounding in false entries and forced 
balances. . . 

Full of gratitude to the Government for his emancipation, 
the negro was easily approached by, and gave unheeding cred- 
ence to, any adventurer who declared himself his friend and 
professed a desire to aid his moral, intellectual, and social 
elevation. . . He believed and was deceived, trusted and was 
betrayed. Taught, to his ruin and that of the whites among 
whom he lives, . . and between whom and himself there must 
be mutual trust and confidence before prosperity can be re- 
stored to his section, to hate and distrust the "old master class- 
es," he is now derided . . for his credulity, . . and told that 
those who dragged him out of slavery have by that one act 
cancelled ever}' obligation to deal with him on principles of 
common honesty. Upon no one of the originators and trus- 
tees of the bank did so great a responsibility rest as upon John 
W. Alvord, but yet he permitted all the misdoings described 
In this report to go on from year to year without any vigorous 



The Freedmen's Bank 30^ 



protest or effort to correct them and so far from giving warn- 
ings to those who had so trusted the concern through his per- 
suasion, he helped to keep up the delusion by praising it, en- 
larging upon its benefit, giving assurance of its abiht)','and 
soliciting increase of depositors and deposits. 



Experience of a Depositor 

House Report, no. 502, J,J, Gong., 1 8ess., p. 29. Statement of John 
Watkms of Washington, D. C. Boston, assistant cashier and son-in- 
law of Wilson, cashier of the Washington branch, had been checlt- 
ing out Watkins' money. The latter could not read. He lost 
$1100 to Boston. The cashiers were frequently dishonest. [1874] 

About a week after the bank closed I carried my pass-book 
up there, and also my little boy's. My little boy had $60 in 
the bank, I think, and I had nine hundred odd. I wanted to 
find out how I stood. I saw^ Boston fifteen or sixteen times 
after the bank closed, and I waited and waited and waited, 
till at last I went to the bank to see about my book. I could 
not find Boston in, but I said to the clerk there, "Do you know 
how Watkin's account is?" He looked at the book and said 
"Yes, you have 40 cents." I said, "Forty hells." He said, 
"Yes." Said I, "What will I do?" Said he, "I don't know." 
I said I never had the money and asked him to tell me where 
I could find Boston. He told me where to find Boston, some- 
where on E street, below the Patent Ofl'ice, and there I found 
him. I went in and commenced pulling off my coat to fight 
him right away. I said, "Boston, what is the meaning of this, 
that I have only 40 cents in the bank?" His face got white 
and, said he, "Mr. Watkins, I drew it out." "Hell," said I,"you 
drew it out and told me nothing of It?" "Well," said he, 
"I will fix that all right." The bank was to pay a dividend in 
two or three weeks' time, and he said, "I will pay you a divi- 
dend on the 15th of next month." Said I, "Jesus Christ, I 
do not know what to do with you." The clerk at the bank 
showed me the checks on which the money was drawn, but of 
course, I did not know one check from the other. . . I could 
not get anything out of Boston. . . 

I said, "Mr. Wilson, I don't want to get closed up in this 



394 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

concern. [This was before the bank suspended.] A man in 
this town, unless he has money, is not worth more than a dog. 
I have worked hard, night and day, for this money, and so 
has my wife, and it should not be closed up in this way." He 
said, "You see that Treasury over there don't you?" I said, 
"Yes." "Well," said he, "there is no more chance of this 
bank closing or bursting than there is of that Treasury." I 
said, "If that is so, it is all right." He said, "It is just preju- 
dice that white people have got against us." I then made my- 
self contented. My heart went down and I went to work. 
There the matter stood, and only 40 cents on my passbook to 
my credit. They did not rob my boy's book. When I was 
loaning money to Boston I supposed that it was all right as he 
was cashier of the bank. I supposed he owned it all him- 
self. 






K3 o 



> 




VI 
RECONSTRUCTION BY CONGRESS 



VI 
RECONSTRUCTION BY CONGRESS 



INTRODUCTION 

By the first Reconstruction Act of March 2, 1867, Con- 
gress, which had been opposing the presidential policy 
of restoration since 1863 and which had refused to rec- 
ognize the state governments set up by Lincoln and John- 
son, took entire charge of the matter of restoring the 
Southern states to the Union. The plan of Congress in- 
volved the discontinuance of the "state" governments 
established by Lincoln and Johnson, and the setting up 
of new governments based on a new electorate — the lead- 
ing whites being disfranchised and the blacks enfran- 
chised. The army was used to control the South while 
the "reconstruction" was taking place. The president's 
opposition was somewhat neutralized by the passage of 
laws limiting his power of dismissal of Federal officials 
and his authority over the army. The policy of Congress 
was outlined in the Act of March 2, but three more acts 
— March 23 and July 19, 1867, and March 11, 1868 — 
were necessary to get the plan into operation. The Su- 
preme Court was deprived of jurisdiction over these 
laws. 

For about one year the South was under the rule of 
military commanders over whom the President had little 
control. During this time a Radical party, composed 
mainly of blacks, and a Conservative party, most of 
whom were white, were organized in the South, the first 
supporting the policy of Congress, the other opposing it. 
Under the supervision of the army the new electorate was 
enrolled, elections were held; and conventions, made up 
of native whites (scalawags). Northern whites (carpct- 

397 



39^ Documentary History of Reconstruction 

baggers), and negroes, met and framed for the Southern 
states new constitutions in harmony with the Reconstruc- 
tion acts. The constitutions were then ratified by the 
new electorate except in Virginia, Texas and Mississippi, 
officials were elected, and the states were ready for the 
recognition of Congress. Meanwhile the constant oppo- 
sition of the President to Congressional measures led to 
an attempt to remove him by impeachment. The char- 
ges were trivial, and the trial a mockery, but by one vote 
he escaped removal. After the failure of impeachment 
the seven reconstructed states were readmitted under 
stringent conditions as to future regulation of the suf- 
frage. Since each reconstructed state was forced to rat- 
ify the proposed Fourteenth Amendment that measure 
was now adopted as a part of the Constitution. 

In the presidential campaign of 1868 Reconstruction 
was the chief issue, the Republicans upholding the pol- 
icy, the Democrats proposing to discontinue it. The 
newly reconstructed states, controlled by the black voters, 
carried the election for the Republicans and the Recon- 
struction was then completed under President Grant, who 
secured a modification of the Radical constitutions of 
Texas, Virginia, and Mississippi, which were then 
adopted and the states readmitted. With the forced rat- 
ification of these reconstructed states the Fifteenth 
Amendment was now adopted and the Reconstruction was 
considered complete; negro suffrage was a fact and the 
negro party was in control in the South; the leading 
whites were disfranchised; and the Fourteenth and Fif- 
teenth Amendments seemed to make permanent these con- 
ditions. 



REFERENCES 

OProsiTioN TO THK Pkesiok^t: Burgess, Recomtruction ana tUe Con 
sUtuUon,c^.. 2-5; DeWitt. Impeach.^e^^t and Trial of Presiaent Jonnson 
sec. 1-3; Dunning, CivU War and, Recomtruction, pp. 86 90 pQ "'°"' 

Reconsteuctioxx Acts: Burgess, pp. 112-138; Chadsev, Prelident Jolin 
son and Congress, ch. 5; DeWitt, ch. 2; Dunning, pp 123-1^5 '>61-" 
Fleming, Civil War and Reconstruction in Alahama, p. 473- Gorham 
Edwin M. Stanton, vol. ii, ch. 109; Garner, Reconstruction 'in Missis- 
sippt, p. 156; Harrell, Brooks and Baxter War, ch. 2- Herbert The 
Solid South, pp. 24, 74, 120; Woolley, Reconstruction of Georgia, ch. 3. 

Military Rule: Avary, Dixie after the War, ch. 22; Burgess, ch. 8; 
Dunning, pp. 136-175; Eckenrode, Virginia during Reco7istruc'tion ch 
5; Fleming, ch. 12; Garner, p. 161; Harrell, ch. 3; Hollis, ch. 3, 4; 
Phelps, Louisiana, ch. 14; Reynolds, Reconstruction in South Carolina; 
Sheridan, Memoirs, vol. ii, ch. 11; Woolley, ch. 4. 

Registeation and Elections: Burgess, p. 147; Dunning, pp. 188, 204, 
232; Fleming, pp. 488, 493, 538; Garner, pp. 171, 216; Harrell, ch. 3;' 
Herbert, pp. 46, 300, 327, 332; Hollis, Early Period of Reconstruction 
in South Carolina, p. 78; Reynolds, p. 72; Wallace, Carpet Bag Rule 
in Florida, ch. 5. 

Conventions and Constitutions: Avary, ch. 23;. Burgess, pp. 149, 150; 

Dunning, p. 193; Eckenrode, ch. 6; Fleming, ch. 14; Garner, p. 186; 

Harrell, ch. 3; Herbert, pp. 44, 77, 85, 120, 295, 328"; Hollis, ch. 4; 

Phelps, ch. 14; Reynolds, p. 72; Wallace, ch. 5; Woolley, ch. 4. 
Reconsteuction Campaigns in the South: Avary, ch. 21; Burgess, pp. 

148-155; Eckenrode, ch. 5; Fleming, pp. 503, 531; Garner, pp. 176, 205; 

Harrell, ch. 3; Reynolds, pp. 84, 90, 100; Wallace, ch. 5; Woolley, ch. 4. 
Breach between Johnson and Grant: Burgess, pp. 166-168; Dunning, 

p. 265; McCulloch, Men and Measures, p. 392. 
The Supeejie Couet and Reconstruction: Burgess, pp. 12, 144, 146, 

196, 197; Dunning, pp. 136, 137; Garner, pp. 159, 168; Herbert, pp. 26, 

122. 
Impeachment and Trial of the President: Blaine, Ticenty Years of 

Congress, vol. ii, ch. 14; Boutwell, Reminiscences, vol. ii; Burgess, ch. 

9; Chadsey, ch. 6; DeWitt, Impeachment and Trial of President John- 
son; Dunning, p. 253; Gorham, vol. ii, pp. 393-45?; Hart, S. P. Chase, 

p. 358; McCall, Thaddeus Stevens, ch. 18; Story, Charles Suinner, 

pp. 332, 347. 
Readmission of States: Burgess, p. 198; Dunning, pp. 212, 215, 235, 

237; Eckenrode, ch. 7; Fleming, p. 547; Garner, p. 272; Harrell, ch. 4; 

Hollis, p. 105; Woolley, ch. 5, and 8. 
President Grant and Reconstruction: Burgess, ch. 11; Dunning, pp. 

231, 233, 242; Eckenrode, ch. 7; Garner, pp. 229, 269; Herbert, pp. 

126-133, 249-253, 330, 332, 369; Woolley, ch. 6-8. 
The Case of Georgia: Burgess, p. 235; Dunning, pp. 224, 237, 239. 241, 

242, 246; Herbert, pp. 122, 126; Wioolley, ch. 6. 

399 



CONGRESS BEGINS RECONSTRUCTION 



First Reconstruction Act 

Acts and Resolutions. .]'J Cong., 2 Sess., p. 60. Vetoed by the Pres- 
ident and passed over the veto on the same day. [March 2, 18"67] 

Whereas no legal State governments or adequate protection 
for life or property now exists in the rebel States of Virginia, 
North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, Ala- 
bama, Louisiana, Florida, Texas, and Arkansas; and whereas 
it is necessary that peace and good order should be enforced 
in said States until loyalty and republican State governments 
can be legally established: Therefore 

Be it enacted, . . That said rebel States shall be divided 
into military districts and made subject to the military author- 
ity of the United States, as hereinafter prescribed, and for 
that purpose Virginia shall constitute the first district; North 
Carolina and South Carolina the second district; Georgia, Ala- 
bama and Florida, the third district; Mississippi and Arkansas 
the fourth district; and Louisiana and Texas the fifth dis- 
trict. 

Sec. 2. . . It shall be the duty of the President to assign 
to the command of each of said districts an officer of the araiy, 
not below the rank of brigadier general, and to detail a suf- 
ficient military force to enable such officer to perform his duties 
and enforce his authority within the district to Vv'hich he is 
assigned. 

Sec. 3. . . It shall be the duty of each officer assigned as 
aforesaid to protect all persons in their rights of person and 
property, to suppress insurrection, disorder, and violence, and 
to punish, or cause to be punished, all disturbers of the public 
peace and criminals, and to this end he may allow local civil 
tribunals to take jurisdiction of and to try offenders, or, when 
in his judgment it may be necessary for the trial of offenders, 
he shall have power to organize military commissions or tri- 
bunals for that purpose; and all interference under color of 
State authority Avith the exercise of military authority under 
this act shall be null and void. 

401 

26 



402 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

Sec. 4. . . All persons put under military arrest by virtue 
of this act shall be tried without unnecessary delay, and no 
cruel or unusual punishment shall be inflicted; and no sentence 
of any military commission or tribunal hereby authorized, af- 
fecting the life or liberty of any person, shall be executed until 
it is approved by the officer in command of the district, and the 
laws and regulations for the government of the army shall not 
be affected by this act, except in so far as they conflict with its 
provisions. . . 

Sec. 5. . . When the people of any one of said rebel 
States shall have formed a constitution of government in con- 
formity" with the Constitution of the United States in all re- 
spects, framed by a convention of delegates elected by the male 
citizens of said State twent)-one years old and upward, of 
whatever race, color, or previous condition, who have been 
resident in that State for one year previous to the day of such 
election, except such as may be disfranchised for participation 
in the rebellion, or for felony at common law, and when such 
constitution shall provide that the elective franchise shall be 
enjoyed by all such persons as have the qualifications herein 
stated for electors of delegates, and when such constitution 
shall be ratified by a majority of the persons voting on the 
question of ratification who are qualified as electors of dele- 
gates, and when such constitution shall have been submitted to 
Congress for examination and approval, and Congress shall 
have approved the same, and when said State, by a vote of 
its legislature elected under said constitution, shall have adopted 
the amendment to the Constitution of the United States, pro- 
posed by the thirty-ninth Congress, and known as article four- 
teen, and when said article shall have become a part of the 
Constitution of the United States, said State shall be declared 
entitled to representation in Congress, and senators and repre- 
sentatives shall be admitted therefrom on their taking oaths 
prescribed by law, and then and thereafter the preceding sec- 
tions of this act shall be inoperative in said State: Provided, 
That no person excluded from the privilege of holding office 
by said proposed amendment to the Constitution of the United 
States shall be eligible to election as a member of the conven- 



Congress Begins Reconst ruction ^o^ 

tion to frame a constitution for any of said rebel States, nor 
shall any such person vote for members of such convention. 

Sec. 6. . . Until the people of said rebel States shall be 
by law admitted to representation in the Congress of the 
United States, any civil governments which mav exist therein 
shall be deemed provisional only, and in all respects subject 
to the paramount authority of the United States at any time 
to abolish, modify or control, or supersede the same; and in 
all elections to any office under such provisional governments 
all persons shall be entitled to vote, and none others, who are 
entitled to vote under the provisions of the fifth section of this 
act; and no person shall be eligible to any office under any 
such provisional governments who would be disqualified from 
holding office under the provisions of the third article ^ of said 
constitutional amendment. 



The Command of the Army 

Acts ami Resolutions. 39 Cong., 2 Sess.. p. 120. The following sec- 
tions were passed as "riders" to the army appropriation act. The 
command of the army was thus practically taken from the President 
and given to General Grant. [J^Iarch 2, 1867] 

Sec. 2. Jnd be it further enacted, That the headquarters of 
the General of the army of the United States shall be at the 
city of Washington, and all orders and instructions relating to 
military operations issued by the President or Secretary of War 
shall be issued through the General of the army, and, in case 
of his inability, through the next in rank. The General of the 
army shall not be removed, suspended, or relieved from com- 
mand, or assigned to duties elsewhere than at said headquar- 
ters, except at his own request, without the previous approval 
of the Senate; and any orders or instructions relating to mili- 
taiw operations issued contrary to the requirements of this 
section shall be null and void; and any officer who shall issue 
orders or instructions contrary to the provisions of this section 
shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor in office; and any 
officer of the army who shall transmit, convey, or obey any 
orders or instructions so issued contrar}' to the provisions of 

1 i. «., section. 



404 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

this section, knowing that such orders were so issued, shall be 
liable to imprisonment for not less than two nor more than 
twenty years, upon conviction thereof in any court of com- 
petent jurisdiction. 

Sec. 5. . . It shall be the duty of the officers of the army 
and navy and of the Freedmen's Bureau to prohibit and pre- 
vent whipping or maiming of the person, as a punishment for 
any crime, misdemeanor or offense, by any pretended civil or 
military authority in any State lately in rebellion, until the 
civil government of such State shall have been restored, and 
shall have been recognized by the Congress of the United 
States. 

Sec. 6. . . All militia forces now organized or in service 
in either of [the late Confederate States, Arkansas and Tennes- 
see excepted] be forthwith disbanded, and that the further 
organization, arming, or calling into service of the said militia 
forces, . . is hereby prohibited under any circumstances what- 
ever until the same shall be authorized by Congress. 



Tenure of Office Act 

Acts and Resolutions, 39 Cong., 2 Sess., p. 62. This act had an im- 
portant bearing on the course of Reconstruction, the trouble with 
Stanton, and the impeachment. It was passed over the President's 
veto. [March 2, 1867] 

Be it enacted . . That every person holding any civil office 
to which he has been appointed by and with the advice and con- 
sent of the Senate, and every person who shall hereafter be 
appointed to any such office, and shall become duly qualified to 
act therein, is, and shall be, entitled to hold such office until a 
successor shall have been In like manner appointed and duly 
qualified, except as herein otherwise provided: Provided, 
That the Secretaries of State, of the Treasury, of War, of 
the Navy, and of the Interior, the Postmaster General, and 
the Attorney General shall hold their offices respectively for 
and during the term of the President by whom they may have 
been appointed, and for one month thereafter, subject to re- 
moval by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. 

Sec. 2. . . When any officer appointed as aforesaid, ex- 



Congress Begins Reconstruction 405 



e re- 



cepting judges of the United States courts, shall, during th. _ 
cess of the Senate, be shown, by evidence satisfactory to the 
President, to be guilty of misconduct in office, or crime, or for 
any reason shall become incapable or legally disqualified to per- 
form its duties, in such case, and in no other, the President 
may suspend such officer, and designate some suitable person 
to perform temporarily the duties of such office until the next 
meeting of the Senate, and until the case shall be acted upon 
by the Senate; . . and in such case it shall be the duty of 
the President, within twenty days after the first day of such 
next meeting of the Senate, to report to the Senate such sus- 
pension, with the evidence and reasons for his action in the 
case and the name of the person so designated to perform the 
duties of such office. And if the Senate shall concur in such 
suspension, and advise and consent to the removal of such 
officer, they shall so certify to the President, who may there- 
upon remove such officer, and, by and with the advice and con- 
sent of the Senate, appoint another person to such office. But 
if the Senate shall refuse to concur in such suspension, such 
officer so suspended shall forthwith resume the functions of his 
office, and the powers of the person so performing its duties 
in his stead shall cease, and the official salary and emoluments 
of such officer shall, during such suspension, belong to the 
person so performing the duties thereof, and not to the officer 
so suspended. . . 

Sec. 3. . . The President shall have power to fill all va- 
cancies which may happen during the recess of the Senate, by 
reason of death or resignation, by granting commissions which 
shall expire at the end of their next session thereafter. And 
if no appointment, by and with the advice and consent of the 
Senate shall be made to such office so vacant or temporarily 
filled as aforesaid during such next session of the Senate, such 
office shall remain in abeyance without any salary, fees, or 
emoluments attached thereto, until the same shall be filled by 
appointment thereto by and with the advice and consent of 
the Senate; and during such time all the powers and duties 
belonging to such office shall be exercised by such other officer 



4o6 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

as may by law exercise such powers and duties in case of a 
vacancy in such office. 

Sec. 4. . . Nothing in this act contained shall be con- 
strued to extend the term of any office the duration of which 
is limited by law. 

Sec. 5. . . If any person shall, contrary to the provisions 
of this act, accept any appointment to or employment in any 
office, or shall hold or exercise, or attempt to hold or exercise, 
any such office or employment, he shall be deemed, and is hereby 
declared to be, guilty of a high misdemeanor, and upon trial 
and conviction thereof, he shall be punished therefor by a fine 
not exceeding ten thousand dollars, or by imprisonment not 
exceeding five years, or both said punishments. . . 

Sec. 6. . . Every removal, appointment, or employment 
made, had, or exercised, contrary to the provisions of this act, 
and the making, signing, sealing, countersigning, or issuing of 
any commission or letter of authority for or in respect to any 
such appointment or employment shall be deemed, and are 
hereby declared to be, high misdemeanors, and upon trial and 
conviction thereof, every person guilty thereof shall be pun- 
ished by a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars, or by im- 
prisonment not exceeding five years, or both said punishments, 
in the discretion of the court. . . 

Sec. 7. . . It shall be the duty of the Secretary of the 
Senate, at the close of each session thereof, to deliver to the 
Secretary of the Treasury, and to each of his assistants, and 
to each of the Auditors, and to each of the Comptrollers in the 
Treasury, and to the Treasurer, and to the Register of the 
Treasury, a full and complete list, duly certified, of all persons 
who shall have been nominated to and rejected by the Senate 
during such session, and a like list of all the offices to which 
nominations shall have been made and not confirmed and filled 
at such session. 

Sec. 8. . . Whenever the President shall, without the ad- 
vice and consent of the Senate, designate, authorize, or employ 
any person to perform the duties of any office, he shall forth- 
with notify the Secretary of the Treasury thereof, and it shall 
be the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury thereupon to 



Congress B egins Reconstruction ^.q-? 



communicate such notice to all the proper accounting and dis- 
bursing officers of his department. 

Sec. 9. . . No money shall be paid or received from the 
Treasury, or paid or received from or retained out of any 
public moneys or funds of the United States, whether in the 
Treasury or not, to or by or for the benefit of any person 
appointed to or authorized to act in or holding or exercising 
the duties or functions of any office contrary to the provisions 
of this act; nor shall any claim, account, voucher, order, cer- 
tificate, warrant, or other instrument providing for or relating 
to such payment, receipt, or retention, be presented, passed, 
allowed, approved, certified, or paid by any officer of the 
United States, or by any person exercising the functions or 
performing the duties of any office or place of trust under the 
United States, for or in respect to such office, or the exercising 
or performing the functions or duties thereof; and every per- 
son who shall violate any of the provisions of this section 
shall be deemed guilty of a high misdemeanor, and, upon trial 
and conviction thereof, shall be punished therefor by a fine 
not exceeding ten thousand dollars, or by imprisonment not 
exceeding ten years, or both said punishments, in the discretion 
of the court. 



Supplementary^ Reconstruction Act 

Acts and Resolutions, .'/O Cong., 1 Sess.. p. 260. Passed over the 
veto. This act was to hasten^ the Reconstruction which would 
probably have failed under the first act. [March 23, 1867] 

Be it enacted . . That before the first day of September, 
eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, the commanding general in 
each district defined by an act entitled "An act to provide for 
the more efficient government of the rebel States," passed 
March second, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, shall cause a 
registration to be made of the male citizens of the United 
States, twenty-one years of age and upwards, resident in each 
county or parish in the State or States included in his dis- 
trict, which registration shall include only those persons who 
are qualified to vote for delegates by the act as aforesaid, and 
who shall have taken and subscribed the following oath or 



4o8 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

affirmation: ''I, , do solemnly swear (or affirm,) 

in the presence of Almighty God, that I am a citizen of the 

State of ; that I have resided in said State for 

months next preceding this day, and now reside in the county 

of , or the parish of , in said State (as 

the case may be:) That I am twenty-one years old; that I 
have not been disfranchised for participation in any rebellion 
or civil war against the United States, nor for felony com- 
mitted against the laws of any State or of the United States; 
that I have nev^er been a member of any State legislature, nor 
held any executive or judicial office in any State and afterwards 
engaged In insurrection or rebellion against the United States, 
or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof; and I have 
never taken an oath as a member of Congress of the United 
States, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of 
any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any 
State, to support the Constitution of the United States, and 
afterwards engaged in Insurrection or rebellion against the Uni- 
ted States, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof; that 
I will faithfully support the Constitution and obey the laws 
of the United States, and will, to the best of my ability, en- 
courage others so to do, so help me God;" which oath or 
affirmation may be administered by any registering officer. 

Sec. 2. . . After the completion of the registration hereby 
provided for In any State, at such time and places therein as 
the commanding general shall appoint and direct, of which 
at least thirty days' public notice shall be given, an election 
shall be held of delegates to a convention for the purpose of 
establishing a constitution and civil government for such State 
loyal to the Union, said convention in each State, except Vir- 
ginia, to consist of the same number of members as the most 
numerous branch of the State legislature of such State In the 
year eighteen hundred and sixty, to be apportioned among the 
several districts, counties, or parishes of such State by the com- 
manding general, giving to each representation in the ratio 
of voters registered as aforesaid, as nearly as may be. The 
convention in Virginia shall consist of the same number of 
members as represented the territory now constituting Virginia 



Congress Begins Reconstruction ,oq 



In the most numerous branch of the legislature of said State In 
the year eighteen hundred and sixty, to be apportioned as 
a foresaid. ^ 

Sec. 3. . . At said election the registered voters of each 
State shall vote for or against a convention to form a consti- 
tution therefor under this act. Those voting In faN-or of 
such a constitution shall have written or printed on the bal- 
lots by which they^vote for delegates, as aforesaid, the words 
"For a convention," and those voting against such a convention 
shall have written or printed on such ballots the words "Against 
a convention." The person appointed to superintend said 
election, and to make return of the votes given thereat, as 
herein provided, shall count and make return of the votes 
given for and against a convention; and the commanding gen- 
eral to whom the same shall have been returned shall ascertain 
and declare the total vote In each State for and against a con- 
vention. If a majority of the votes given on that question 
shall be for a convention, then such convention shall be held 
as hereinafter provided; but If a majority of said votes shall 
be against a convention, then no such convention shall be held 
under this act: Provided, That such convention shall not be 
held unless a majority of all such registered voters shall have 
voted on the question of holding such convention. 

Sec. 4. . . The commanding general of each district shall 
appoint as many boards of registration as may be necessary, 
consisting of three loyal officers or persons, to make and com- 
plete the registration, superintend the election, and make re- 
turn to him of the votes, lists of voters, and of the persons 
elected as delegates by a plurality of the votes cast at said 
election; and upon receiving said returns he shall open the 
same, ascertain the persons elected as delegates according to 
the returns of the officers who conducted said election, and 
make proclamation thereof; and if a majority of the votes 
given on the question shall be for a convention, the command- 
ing general, within sixty days from the date of election, shall 
notify the delegates to assemble In convention, at a time and 
place to be mentioned In the notification, and said convention, 

1 Forty-eight counties of Virginia had been made into the new state of West Virginia. 



4IO Documentary History of Reconstruction 

when organized, shall proceed to frame a constitution and 
civil government according to the provisions of this act and the 
act to which it is supplementary; and when the same shall have 
been so framed, said constitution shall be submitted by the con- 
vention for ratification to the persons registered under the 
provisions of this act at an election to be conducted by the 
officers or persons appointed or to be appointed by the com- 
manding general, as hereinbefore provided, and to be held 
after the expiration of thirty days from the date of notice 
thereof, to be given by said convention; and the returns thereof 
shall be made to the commanding general of the district. 

Sec. 5. . . If, according to said returns, the constitution 
shall be ratified by a majority of the votes of the registered 
electors qualified as herein specified, cast at said election, at 
least one half of all the registered voters voting upon the 
question of such ratification, the president of the convention 
shall transmit a copy of the same, duly certified, to the Presi- 
dent of the United States, who shall forthwith transmit the 
same to Congress, if then in session, and if not in session, then 
immediately upon its next assembling; and if it shall, moreover, 
appear to Congress that the election was one at which all the 
registered and qualified electors in the State had an opportunity 
to vote freely and without restraint, fear, or the influence of 
fraud, and if the Congress shall be satisfied that such constitu- 
tion meets the approval of a majority of all the qualified elec- 
tors in the State, and if the said constitution shall be declared 
by Congress to be in conformity with the provisions of the 
act to which this is supplementary, and the other provisions 
of said act shall have been complied with, and the said consti- 
tution shall be approved by Congress, the State shall be de- 
clared entitled to representation, and senators and representa- 
tives shall be admitted therefrom as therein provided. 

Sec. 6. . . All elections in the States mentioned in the said 
"Act to provide for the more efficient government of the 
rebel States," shall, during the operation of said act, be by 
ballot; and all officers making the said registration of voters 
and conducting said elections shall, before entering upon the 
discharge of their duties, take and subscribe the oath pre- 



Congress Begins Reconstruction 



4 '! 

scribed by the act approved July second, eighteen hundred and 
sixty-two, 1 entitled "An act to prescribe an oath of office:" 
Provided, That If any person knowingly and falsely take and 
subscribe any oath in this act prescribed, such person so offend- 
ing and being thereof duly convicted, shall be subject to the 
pains, penalties, and disabilities which by law are provided for 
the punishment of the crime of wilful and corrupt perjury. 

Sec. 7. . . All expenses incurred by the several command- 
ing generals, or by virtue of any orders issued, or appointments 
made, by them, under or by virtue of this act, shall be paid 
out of any moneys in the treasury not otherwise appropri- 
ated. 

Sec. 8. . . The convention for each State shall prescribe 
the fees, salary, and compensation to be paid to all delegates 
and other officers and agents herein authorized or necessary to 
carry into effect the purposes of this act not herein otherwise 
provided for, and shall provide for the levy and collection 
of such taxes on the property in such State as may be nec- 
essary to pay the same. 

Sec. 9. . . The word article, in the sixth section of the 
act to which this is supplementary, shall be construed to menn 
section. 



Interpretation of the Reconstruction Acts 

House Ex. Doc. no. 3J, J/O Gong., 1 Sess. Proceedings at a meetin:^ 
of the cabinet. Instructions in accord with these proceedings 
were sent on June 20, 1867, through the adjutant generaFs office to 
the military commanders in the South. The instructions are in 
Richardson, Messages and Papers, vol. vi, p. 552. [June 18, 18G7] 

The President announced that he had under consideration the 
two opinions from the Attorney-General as to the legal ques- 
tions arising upon the Acts of Congress, commonly known as 
the reconstruction acts, and that In view of the great magni- 
tude of the subject, and the various interests Involved, he 
deemed it proper to have it fully considered In cabinet, and 
to avail himself of all the light which could be afforded by 
the opinions and advice of the members of the cabinet, to 
enable him to see that these laws be faithfully executed, and 

1 See p. 191. 



412 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

to decide what orders and instructions are necessary and ex- 
pedient to be given to the military commanders. 

The President said further, that the branch of the subject 
that seemed to him first in order for consideration was as to 
the instructions to be sent to the mihtary commanders for 
their guidance, and for the guidance of persons offering for 
registration. The instructions proposed by the Attorney-Gen- 
eral, as set forth in the summary contained in his last opinion, 
will therefore be now considered. . . 

The reading of the summary having been concluded, each 
section was then considered, discussed, and voted upon as 
follows : 

1. The oath prescribed in the supplementary act defines 
all the qualifications required, and every person who can take 
that oath is entitled to have his name entered upon the list of 
voters. 

All vote aye except the Secretary of War, who votes nay. 

2. The board of registration have no authority to admin- 
ister any other oath to the person applying for registration 
than this prescribed oath; nor to administer any oath to any 
other person touching the qualifications of the applicant, or 
the falsity of the oath so taken by him. 

No provision is made for challenging the qualifications of 
the applicant, or entering upon any trial or investigation of 
this qualification, either by witness or any other form of 
proof. 

All vote aye except the Secretary of War, who votes nay. . . 

4. An unnaturalized person cannot take this oath, but an 
alien who has been naturalized can take it, and no other proof 
of naturalization can be required of him. 

All vote aye except the Secretary of War, who votes nay. . . 

6. No one who has been disfranchised for participation in 
any rebellion against the United States, or for felony com- 
mitted against the laws of any State or of the United States, 
can take this oath. 

The actual participation in a rebellion, or the actual com- 
mission of a felony, does not amount to a disfranchisement. 



Congress Begins Reconstruction ^13 



The sort of disfranchisement here meant is that which is de- 
clared by law passed by competent authority, or which has 
been fixed upon the criminal by the sentence of the court which 
tried him for the crime. 

No law of the United States has declared the penalty of 
disfranchisement for participation in rebellion alone. Nor is 
it known that any such law exists in either of these ten States, 
except perhaps Virginia, as to which State special instructions 
will be given. 

All vote aye except the Secretary of War, who dissents as 
to the second and third paragraphs. 

7. As to Disfranchisement arising from having held office, 
followed by participation in Rebellion. 

This is the most important part of the oath, and requires 
strict attention to arrive at its meaning. 

The applicant must swear or affirm as follows: 

That I have never been a member of any State Legislature, 
nor held any executive or judicial office in any State, and 
afterward engaged in an insurrection or rebellion against the 
United States, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof; 
that I have never taken an oath as a member of Congress of 
the United States, or as an officer of the United States, or as 
a member of any State Legislature, or as an executive or 
judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the 
United States, and afterwards engaged in insurrection or re- 
bellion against the United States, or given aid or comfort to 
the enemies thereof. 

Two elements must concur in order to disqualify a person 
under these clauses: First, the office and official oath to sup- 
port the Constitution of the United States; second, engaging 
afterward in rebellion. Both must exist to work disqualifica- 
tion, and must happen in the order of time mentioned. 

A person who has held an office and taken the oath to sup- 
port the Federal Constitution, and has not afterward engaged 
in rebelhon, is not disqualified. So, too, a person who has 
engaged in rebellion, but has not theretofore held ?.n office and 
taken that oath, is not disqualified. 



414 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

All vote aye except the Secretary of War, who votes nay. . . 
9. Militia officers of any State, prior to the rebellion, are 
not subject to disqualification. 

All vote aye except the Secretary of War, who votes nay. . . 

13. Persons who exercise mere employments under State 
authority are not disqualified; such as commissioners to lay 
out roads, commissioners of public works, visitors of state 
institutes, directors of state institutions, examiners of banks, 
notaries public, and commissioners to take acknowledgment of 
deeds. 

Concurred in unanimously, but the Secretary of State, the 
Secretar}' of the Treasury, and the Secretary of War express 
the opinion that lawyers are such officers as are disqualified, if 
they participated in the rebellion. Two things must exist as 
to any person to disqualify him from voting: first the office 
held prior to the rebellion, and afterward participation in the 
rebellion. 

14. An act to fix upon a person the offense of engaging 
in rebellion under this law, must be an overt and voluntary 
act, done with the intent of aiding or furthering the common 
unlawful purpose. A person forced into the rebel service by 
conscription, or under a paramount authority which he could 
not safely disobey, and who would not have entered such ser- 
vice if left to the free exercise of his own will, cannot be held 
to be disqualified from voting. 

All vote aye except the Secretary of War, who votes nay 
as the proposition is stated. . . 

16. All those who, in legislative or other official capacity, 
were engaged in the furtherance of the common unlawful pur- 
pose, where the duties of the office necessarily had relation to 
the support of the rebellion, such as members of the rebel con- 
ventions, congresses, and legislatures, diplomatic agents of the 
rebel Confederacy, and other officials whose offices were cre- 
ated for the purpose of more effectually carrying on hostili- 
ties, or whose duties appertained to the support of the rebel 
cause, must be held to be disqualified. 

But officers who, during the rebellion, discharged official 
duties not incident to war, but only such duties as belong even 



Congress Begins Reconstruction 



to a state of peace, and were necessary to the preservation of 
order and the administration of law, are not to be considered as 
thereby engaging m rebellion or as disqualified. Disloyal sen- 
timents, opinions, or sympathies would not disqualify but 
where a person has by speech or by writing incited others to 
engage in rebellion, he must come under the disqualification 

All vote aye except the Secretary of War, who dissents to 
the second paragraph, with the exception of the words, "where 
a person has by speech or by writing Incited others to engage 
in rebellion, he must come under the disqualification." 



Third Reconstruction Act 

statutes at Large, vol. xv, p. 14. Passed over the veto. To 
nullify the interpretation of the Reconstruction acts by the cabinet 
and the attorney general. [July 19, 1867] 

Be it enacted . . That it is hereby declared to have been the 
true intent and meaning of the [acts of March 2, March 23, 
1867] that the governments then existing in the rebel States 
of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Mis- 
sissippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Florida, Texas, and Arkansas, 
were not legal State governments; and that thereafter said gov- 
ernments, if continued, were to be continued subject In all re- 
spects to the m/illtary commanders of the respective districts, 
and to the paramount authority of Congress. 

Sec. 2. . . The commander of any district named In said 
act shall have po\^ er, subject to the disapproval of the General 
of the army of the United States, and to have effect till dis- 
approved, whenever in the opinion of such commander the 
proper administration of said act shall require It, to suspend or 
remove from office, or from the performance of official duties 
and exercise of official powers, any officer or person holding or 
exercising, or professing to hold or exercise, any civil or military 
office or duty In such district under any power, election, appoint- 
ment, or authority derived from, or granted by, or claimed 
under, any so-called State or the government thereof, or any 
municipal or other division thereof; and upon such suspension 
or removal such commander, subject to the disapproval of the 



4i6 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

General as aforesaid, shall have power to provide from time 
to time for the performance of the said duties of such officer or 
person so suspended or removed, by the detail of some com- 
petent officer or soldier of the army, or by the appointment of 
some other person to perform the same, and to fill vacancies 
occasioned by death, resignation, or otherwise. 

Sec. 3. . . The General of the army of the United States 
shall be invested with all the powers of suspension, removal, 
appointment, and detail granted in the preceding section to 
district commanders. 

Sec. 4. . . The acts of the officers of the army already done 
in removing in said districts persons exercising the functions 
of civil officers, and appointing others in their stead, are here- 
by confirmed : Provided, That any person heretofore or here- 
after appointed by any district commander to exercise the 
functions of any civil office, may be removed, either by the 
military officer in command of the district, or by the General 
of the army. And it shall be the duty of such commander to 
remove from office as aforesaid all persons who are disloyal to 
the government of the United States, or who use their official 
influence in any manner to hinder, delay, prevent, or obstruct 
the due and proper administration of this act and the acts to 
which it is supplementary. 

Sec. 5. . . The boards of registration provided for in the 
act entitled "An act supplementary to an act . . passed March 
23, 1867, shall have powder, and it shall be their duty before 
allowing the registration of any person, to ascertain, upon such 
facts or information as they can obtain, whether such person 
is entitled to be registered under said act, and the oath required 
by said act shall not be conclusive on such question, and no 
person shall be registered unless such board shall decide that 
he is entitled thereto ; and such board shall also have power to 
examine under oath, (to be administered by any member of 
such board,) any one touching the qualification of any person 
claiming registration; but in every case of refusal by the board 
to register an applicant, and in every case of striking his name 
from the list as hereinafter provided, the board shall make a 



Congress Begins Reconstructlo n 417 



note or memorandum, which shall be returned with the regis- 
tration list to the commanding general of the district, setting 
forth the grounds of such refusal or such striking from the list: 
Provided, That no person shall be disqualified as member of 
any board of registration by reason of race or color. 

Sec. 6. . . The true intent and meaning of the oath pre- 
scribed in said supplementary act is, (among other things.'! 
that no person who has been a member of the legislature of 
any State, or who has held any executive or judicial office in any 
State, whether he has taken an oath to support the Constitu- 
tion of the United States or not, and v/hether he was holding 
such office at the commencement of the rebellion, or had held 
it before, and who has afterwards engaged in insurrection or 
rebellion against the United States, or given aid or comfort to 
the enemies thereof, is entitled to be registered or to vote; and 
the words "executive or judicial office in any State" in said oath 
mentioned shall be construed to include all civil offices created 
by law for the administration of any general law of a State, 
or for the administration of justice. 

Sec. 7. . . The time for completing the original registra- 
tion provided for in said act may, in the discretion of the com- 
mander of any district, be extended to the ist day of October, 
1867; and the boards of registration shall have power, and it 
shall be their duty, commencing fourteen days prior to any 
election under said act, and upon reasonable public notice of 
the time and place thereof, to revise, for a period of five days, 
the registration lists, and upon being satisfied that any person 
not entitled thereto has been registered, to strike the name of 
such person from the list, and such person shall not be allowed 
to vote. And such board shall also, during the same period, 
add to such registry the names of all persons who at that time 
possess the qualifications required by said act who have not 
been already registered; and no person shall, at any time, be 
entitled to be registered or to vote, by reason of any executive 
pardon or amnesty, for any act or thing which, without such 
pardon or amnesty, would disqualify him for registration or 
voting. 



41 8 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

Sec. 8. . . Section four of said last-named act shall be 
construed to authorize the commanding general named therein, 
whenever he shall deem it needful, to remove any member of 
a board of registration and to appoint another in his stead, 
and to fill any vacancy in such board. 

Sec. 9. . . All members of said boards of registration and 
all persons hereafter elected or appointed to office in said 
military districts, under any so-called State or municipal 
authorit}-, or by detail or appointment of the district com- 
manders, shall be required to take and subscribe the ["iron 
clad" oath]. 

Sec. 10. . . No district commander or member of the 
board of registration, or any of the officers or appointees acting 
under them, shall be bound in his action by any opinion of any 
civil officer of the United States. 

Sec. II. . . All the provisions of this act and of the acts 
to which this is supplementary shall be construed liberally, to 
the end that all the intents thereof may be fully and perfectly 
carried out. 

Fourth Reconstruction Act 

Acts and Resolutions, .'/O Cong., 2 Sess., p. 10. According to the act 
of March. 2, sec. 5, and of March 23, sec. 5, a majority of the regis- 
tered voters must vote on the Constitution or it would fail. In 
Alabama the people had defeated the new Constitution by staying 
away from the polls. This law was to prevent rejection by other 
states. It became a law without the signature of the President. 

[March 11, 1868] 

Be it enacted . . That hereafter any election authorized by 
the act passed March 23, 1867 , . shall be decided by a 
majority of votes actually cast; and at the election in which 
the question of the adoption or rejection of any constitution is 
submitted, any person duly registered in the State may vote 
in the election district where he offers to vote when he has re- 
sided therein for ten days next preceding such election, upon 
presentation of his certificate of registration, his affidavit, or 
other satisfactory evidence, under such regulations as the dis- 
trict commanders may prescribe. 

Sec. 2. . . The constitutional convention of any of the 
States mentioned in the acts to which this is amendatory may 



prov.de that at the t,me of voting upon the ratification of the 
cons ,tu ,on the registered voters may vote also for n,en b r 
of the House of Representatives of the United States, and 
for all elecfve officers provided for by the said constitution 
and the same election officers who shall make the return of the 
votes cast on the ratification or rejection of the constitution, 
shall enumerate and certify the votes cast for members o 



THE SOUTH'S RECEPTION OF THE 
POLICY OF CONGRESS 



Whites Promise Co-operation 

Montgomery 3Iail, April 21, 1867. Resolutions adopted at a public 
meeting in Mobile. [April 19, 1867] 

Resolved f Without expressing any opinion as to the [Recon- 
struction Acts] . . we hereby manifest our gratification at the 
spirit of moderation which the major-general [Pope] com- 
manding the Third District brings to the discharge of the re- 
sponsible duties and to the exercise of the great powers com- 
mitted to him ; and that we feel called upon to meet him in a 
like spirit and hereby to express to him our purpose to throw no 
obstacle in the path of his ofBcial duties, but that in all that 
tends to a genuine desire for the restoration of the Union under 
the Constitution . . we pledge ourselves to a most earnest and 
cordial co-operation. . . 

We recommend to all who are qualified to register and vote 
under the provision of the law, to do so as early as convenient 
after the opportunity is offered for that purpose, and to 
scrupulously abstain from any act which might be construed 
into a disposition to hinder or disturb any other person in the 
discharge of any duty or the exercise of any privilege conferred 
by law. . . 

We find nothing in the changed political condition of the 
white and black races in the South that ought to disturb the 
harmonious relations between them; that we are ready to 
accord to the latter every right and privilege to which they are 
entitled under the laws of the land; that we sincerely desire 
their prosperity and their improvement in all the moral and 
intellectual qualities that are necessary to make them useful 
members of society; that we are their friends, both from grati- 
tude for their fidelity in the past — in war as well as in peace — 
and because our interests in the future are inseparably connected 
with their well-being. 

420 



The South' s Reception of the Polic y of Congress 421 
Justice to the Blacks 

South Atlantic, March, 1878. From a public address bv Gen Wade 
Hampton. Represents the sentiments of his class. [August 7. 1S67] 

As it is of the last consequence to maintain the same amicable 
relations which have heretofore existed between the whites and 
the blacks, I cannot too strongly reiterate my counsel that all 
classes should cultivate harmony and exercise forbearance. 
Let our people remember that the negroes have . . behaved 
admirably, and that they are in no manner responsible for the 
presenu condition of affairs. Should they, in the future, be 
misled by wicked or designing men, let us consider how ignor- 
ant they necessarily are, and let us, only the more, try to con- 
vince them that we are their best friends. Deal with them with 
perfect justice, and thus show that you wish to promote their 
advancement and enlightenment. Do this, and the negroes will 
not only learn to trust you, but they will appreciate the fact, 
so evident to us, that we can do without them far better than 
they can do without us. On a late public occasion . . I expressed 
my perfect willingness to see impartial suffrage established at 
the South, and I believe that this opinion is entertained, not 
only by a large majority of the intelligent and reflecting whites, 
but also of this same class among the blacks. The Supreme 
Court has decided that a negro is not a citizen of the United 
States, and Congress cannot reverse that decision by an act. 
The states, however, are competent to confer citizenship on the 
negro, and I think it is the part of wisdom that such action be 
taken by the Southern States. We have recognized the free- 
dom of the blacks and have placed this fact beyond all pos- 
sibility of a doubt, denial or recall. Let us recognize In the 
same frank manner, and as fully, their political rights also. 



A Negro's Speech 

Montgomery Mail, April 21, 1!?67. Delivered at a meeting of 
whites and blacks in Mobile. This was before t^^e whites gave up 
the attempt to divide the negro vote. L April u, l}^bu 

J RECEIVED an invitation from the white citizens of Mobile to 

speak for the purpose of reconciling our races, . . to extend 



422 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

the hand of fellowship. . . I believe [they] are sincere in 
what they promise. . . Let us remove the past from our 
bosoms, and reconcile ourselves and positions together. I am 
certain that my race cannot be satisfied unless granted all the 
rights allowed by the law and by that flag. The resolutions 
read to you to-night guarantee every thing. Can you expect 
any more? If you do, I would like to know where you are 
going to get it. I am delighted in placing myself on this plat- 
form, and in doing this I am doing my duty to my God and 
my country. We want to do what is right. We believe white 
men will also do what is right. 



Beginning of Opposition 

Annual Cyclopedia, 1S67, p. 2S. Platform promulgated by the first 
political convention held in Alabama after the Civil War. Though 
composed mainly of former Whigs the convention organized what 
is now the Democratic party in Alabama. [1867] 

The Conservative men of the State of Alabama . . adopt, as 
an expression of their views, the following resolutions of the 
Conservative men of the State of Pennsylvania, adopted at a 
recent convention in that State : 

1. The Constitution of the United States . . is binding 
upon every inhabitant of all ranks, sexes, colors, ages, and con- 
ditions, and it is the duty of each and every one, without ex- 
ception, or modification under any circumstances, to adhere to, 
protect, and defend the same. 

2. In all conflict of powers under that instrument the su- 
preme judiciary power is the only arbiter. . . 

3. The Union of the States is decided by the w\ar and ac- 
cepted by the Southern people to be perpetual. . . 

4. Congress is not the Federal Government, nor is the 
President, nor the Supreme Court. The Federal Government 
is that frame of civil polity established by the Constitution, 
consisting of all three, each supreme in his own limits, and 
each entitled, equally with the others, to the loyal obedience of 
every inhabitant of all the States. 

5. By the Constitution and under the fundamental law of 
the Federal Governm.ent . . and of which Congress itself is 



The South's Reception of the Policy of Congress 423 

the creature, representation in Congress and the electoral col- 
leges is a right, fundamental and indestructible in its nature, 
and abiding In every State; being a duty as well as right pertain- 
ing to the people of every State, and the denial of which is 
the destruction of the Federal Government. 

The Conservative men of Alabama adopt, as a further ex- 
pression of their opinions and purposes, the following: 

6. Each State under the Constitution has the exclusive right 
to prescribe the qualifications of Its own electors. 

7. . . It is our earnest aim and purpose to cultivate rela- 
tions of friendship, harmony, and peace between the two races 
— to deal justly with the blacks — to instruct and aid In in- 
structing them In a proper understanding of all their duties to 
themselves, to society, and to the country — and we denounce 
as treacherous and base all attempt by bad men to engender or 
encourage antagonism between the two races. 

8. . . We are inhabitants of a common country, sharers 
and sufferers of a common destiny — and we will do all in our 
power to instruct and elevate the colored race in its moral, 
social and political responsIblHties. 

9. . . While we have much charity for the colored man, 
and feel inclined to look indulgently and tolerantly on his 
prejudices of race. Inculcated and encouraged as they have been 
by recent events, and by insidious counsel of bad men, we appeal 
to him by the common interests of a common country, to place 
his trust In those he knows to be honorable, and to deal 
cautiously with strangers who bear no evidence that they were 
honored where they are better known. 



Opposition of the Whites in Arkansas 

J. M. Harrell, Tlie Brooks and Baxter War, p. 37. ^'^'•'^ •■ of whUe 
leaders. [1SQT\ 

After a most careful and thorough consideration ot the Re- 
construction Act itself, with all the reasons for and against 
which we have heard or read, we regard reconstruction under 
that act as an impossibility. Some sort of restoration may be 
had under It, but a reconstruction such as will give our people 



424 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

equal rights with others, and such as will secure to our State 
and her citizens full constitutional rights, cannot be had under 
that measure. Any reconstruction short of this would be a 
cruel mockery, and would result, in the end, in the certain 
degradation, prostration and complete ruin of the State. As 
harsh and severe and as odious as military rule may be, we 
prefer it infinitely to what must, of necessity, follow from any 
kind of restoration or reconstruction under that act. 

Therefore, a convention to bring about such a reconstruction 
as this bill contemplates, is to be avoided as the v/orst of evils 
And if the convention is not needed to effect national restoration 
or national integrity, certainly it is not necessary for any merely 
local purposes. This is more particularly true when in its pro 
ceedings hundreds and thousands of our citizens are not per 
mitted to even have a voice, but are altogether excluded, . 
disfranchised, and branded as traitors and felons. 

We regard it, then, as a sacred duty on the part of those who 
claim this as their home, and who feel for the pride, honor, and 
prosperity of the State, to go to the polls and vote against a 
convention, and at the same time to vote for cautions, prudent, 
zvise, co)ise?'vative delegates, so that if a convention should be 
held, its proceedings will be controlled and directed with an 
assurance that the State will not be given up to destruction. 



"Virtue and Intelligence under Foot" 

J. S. Reynolds, Reconstruction in South Carolina, p. 75. Protest 

of convention of wtiites. Used by Dsrmission of Mr. Reynolds. 

[September 21, 1867] 

We desire peace for its own sake, for its holy Christian influ- 
ence, and for the civilization and refinement which spring up 
in its path. Do the Reconstruction acts of Congress propose 
to give us this peace ? No — they give us war and anarchy, 
rather. They sow the seeds of discord in our midst and place 
the best interests of society in the hands of an ignorant mob. 
They disfranchise the white citizen and enfranchise the newly 
emancipated slave. The slave of yesterday, who knew no law 
but the will of the master, is today about to be invested with 
the control of the government. In all popular governments 



The South's Reception of theJ PolicyofCon^ress 425 



le ex- 



the two great sources of power may be traced, ( i ) to the 
ercise of the ballot, (2) to the franchise of the jury box 
Invest any people with these two great powers, and they have 
at once the government of the country in their hands. By the 
Reconstruction acts of Congress these powers are conferred 
upon the negro — he can make and unmake the Constitution 
and the laws which he will administer according to the dictates 
of another or his own caprice. 

^ We are not unfriendly to the negro. . . In his property, in his 
life and in his person we are willing that the black man and the 
white man shall stand together upon the same platform and be 
shielded by the same equal laws. We venture the opinion that 
the people of South Carolina are prepared to adopt as their 
own the Constitution of any New England or other Northern 
State, wherein it is supposed that the civil rights of the negro 
are more fully and amply secured. But upon a question in- 
volving such great and momentous issues we should be untrue 
to ourselves and unfair to our opponents were we to withhold 
the frank and full expression of our opinions. We, therefore, 
feeling the responsibility of the subject and the occasion, enter 
our most solemn protest against the policy of investing the negro 
with political rights. The black man is what God and nature 
and circumstances have made him. That he is not fit to be 
invested with these important rights may be no fault of his. 
But the fact is patent to all that the negro is utterly unfitted to 
exercise the highest functions of the citizen. The government 
of the country should not be permitted to pass from the hands 
of the white man into the hands of the negro. The enforce- 
ment of the Reconstruction acts by military power under the 
guise of negro voters and negro conventions cannot lawfully 
reestablish civil government in South Carolina. It may for a 
time hold us in subjection to a quasi-civil government backed 
by military force, but it can do no more. As citizens of the 
United States we should not consent to live under negro su- 
premacy, nor should we acquiesce in negro equality. Not for 
ourselves only, but on behalf of the Anglo-Saxon race and blood 
in this country, do we protest against this subversion of the 



426 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

great social law, whereby an ignorant and depraved race is 
placed in power and influence above the virtuous, the educated 
and the refined. By these acts of Congress intelligence and 
virtue are put under foot, while ignorance and vice are lifted 
into power. 

A Southern Radical Platform 

Annual Cyclopedia, 1867, p. 460. A Radical party consisting mainly 
of Northern whites and negroes was organized in each Southern 
state after the passage of the Reconstruction acts. [1867] 

We advocate and will enforce perfect equality under the law 
'of all men, without distinction of race or color; indorse the 
acts of the Thirty-ninth and Fortieth Congresses; will recon- 
struct Louisiana upon the Congressional basis, and send to 
Congress only true and loyal men. Nominations for office to 
be made only of those who will enforce perfect equality and 
the right to hold office, irrespective of race or color. We will 
insist on perfect equality, without distinction of race or color, in 
the right to vote and enter the jury-box, without any educa- 
tional or property qualifications being required; also on the 
right to practice all professions, to buy, sell, travel, and be 
entertained, and to enter Into any and all civil contracts. . . 
We will also advocate immigration, and division of lands of 
the State, as far as practicable, into small farms, in order that 
the masses of our people may be enabled to become landholders. 
We will advocate the repeal of the cotton tax by Congress. . . 
We will advocate equality in schools. . . We will insist on a 
thorough revision of the laws of Louisiana, that they may 
guarantee equal justice to black and white alike. . . 

The platform further condemns Johnson's amnesty procla- 
mation, believing the disfranchisement of rebels to be the high- 
est duty of the General Government ; favors the maintenance of 
an adequate military force in Louisiana to see the laws enforced, 
and life and property protected; declares that no man is to be 
supported for office who will not boldly and openly pledge him- 
self to make equal distribution among white and colored alike 
of all offices to which he may have the power of appointment. 
As the newly enfranchised citizens constitute a majority of the 



The Soiith's Reception of the Policy of Congress 427 

party, at least one-half of the nominations for elective offices 
shall be taken from that class, no distinction to be made 
whether nominees or appointees were born free or not, providetl 
they are loyal, capable, and honest. The party will ahvays 
discountenance any attempt on the part of any race or class to 
assume practical control of any branch of the government to 
the exclusion of any other race or class. 



THE USE OF THE ARMY IN 
RECONSTRUCTION 



The Army Takes Control 

Wa?' Department Archives, G. O. no. 1, 2nd Military District, (North 
Carolina and South Carolina). Gen. D. E. Sickles in command. 

[March 21, 1867] 

2. In the execution of the duty of the commanding general to 
maintain the security of the inhabitants in their persons and 
property, to suppress insurrection, disorder and violence, and 
to punish or cause to be punished all disturbers of the public 
peace and criminals, the local civil tribunals will be permitted 
to take jurisdiction of and try offenders, excepting only such 
cases as may by the order of the commanding general be re- 
ferred to a commission or other military tribunal for trial. 

3. The civil government now existing in North Carolina 
and South Carolina is provisional only, and in all respects sub- 
ject to the paramount authority of the United States, at any 
time to abolish, modify, control, or supersede the same. Local 
laws and municipal regulations not inconsistent with the Con- 
stitution and laws of the United States, or the proclamations of 
the President, or with such regulations as are or may be pre- 
scribed in the orders of the commanding general, are hereby 
declared to be in force; and, in conformity therewith civil 
officers are hereby authorized to continue the exercise of their 
proper functions, and will be respected and obeyed by the in- 
habitants. 

4. Whenever any civil officer, magistrate, or court neglects 
or refuses to perform an official act properly required of such 
tribunal or officer, whereby due and rightful security to person 
or property shall be denied, the case will be reported by the 
post commander to these headquarters. 

5. Post commanders will cause to be arrested persons 
charged w^ith the commission of crimes and offenses, when the 
civil authorities fail to arrest and bring such offenders to trial, 
and will hold the accused in custody for trial by military com- 

428 



The Use of the Army in Reconstruction 



429 

mission, provost court, or other tribunal organized pursuant to 
orders from these headquarters. 

6. The commanding general, desiring to preserve tran- 
quility and order, by means and agencies most congenial to 
the people, solicits the zealous and cordial cooperation of 
civil officers in the discharge of their duties, and the aid of all 
good citizens in preventing conduct tending to disturb the 
peace; and to the end that occasion may seldom arise for the 
exercise of military authorities in matters of ordinary civil ad- 
ministration, the commanding general respectfully and earnestly 
rorT:mends to the people and authorities of North and South 
Carolina unreserved obedience to the authority now established, 
and the diligent, considerate, and impartial execution of the 
laws enacted by their government. 

Status of State Officials 

War Department Archives, G. O. no. 1, 3d Military District, (Georgia, 
Florida, Alabama). Gen. John Pope in command. [April 1, 1867] 

I. The civil officers at present in office in Georgia, Florida, 
and Alabama, will retain their offices until the expiration of their 
terms of service . . so long as justice is impartially and faith- 
fully administered. . . 

11. It is to be clearly understood, however, that the civil 
officers thus retained in office shall confine themselves strictly 
to the performance of their official duties, and whilst holding 
their office they shall not use any influence whatever to deter or 
dissuade the people from taking an active part in reconstructing 
their State governments, under the act of Congress to provide 
for the more efficient government of the rebel States, and the 
act supplementary thereto. . . 

IV. No elections will be held in any of the States comprised 
in this military district, except such as provided for in the acr 
of Congress, and in the manner therein established; but all 
vacancies in civil offices which now exist, or which may occur 
by expiration of the term of office of the present incumbents, 
before the prescribed registration of voters is completed, will 
be filled by appointment of the General commanding the dis- 
trict. 



430 Documentary History of Reconstruction 



Registrars and Registration Districts 

War Department Archives, G. 0. no. 5, 3d Military District. 

[April 8, 1867] 

II. In order to execute [the Act of March 2, 1867] with as 
little delay as possible, the commanding officers of the districts 
of Alabama, Georgia, and Florida, will proceed immediately 
to divide those States into convenient districts for registration, 
aided by such information as they may have or can obtain. It 
is suggested that the election districts in each State which in 
i860 sent a member to the most numerous branch of the State 
Legislature, will be found a convenient division for registration. 
It is desirable that in all cases the registers shall be civilians, 
where it is possible to obtain such as come within the pro- 
visions of the act, and are otherwise suitable persons; and that 
military officers shall not be used for this purpose except in 
case of actual necessity. The compensation for registers will 
be fixed hereafter, but the general rule will be observed of grad- 
uating the compensation by the number of recorded voters. 
To each list of voters shall be appended the oath of the register 
that the names have been faithfully recorded, and represent 
actual legal voters, and that the same man does not appear 
under different names. The registers are specifically instructed 
to see that all information concerning their political rights is 
given to all persons entitled to vote under the act of Congress ; 
and they are made responsible that every such legal voter has 
the opportunity to record his name. . . 

IV. The district commanders in each of the States com- 
prised in this military district are authorized to appoint one or 
more general supervisors of registration, whose business it shall 
be to visit the various points where registration is being carried 
on; to inspect the operations of the registers; and to assure 
themselves that every man entitled to vote has the necessary in- 
formation concerning his political rights, and the opportunity 
to record his name. 

V. A general Inspector, either an officer of the Army or a 
civilian, will be appointed at these headquarters, to see that the 
provisions of this order are fully and carefully executed. . . 



7^/^g Use of the Army in Rcco nstnirtion 4-1 

VII. The commanding officer of each district will give 
public notice when and where the registers will commence the 
registration, which notice will be kept public by the registers 
in each district during the whole time occupied by registrlition. 

VIII. Interference by violence, or threats of violence, or 
other oppressive means to prevent the registration of any 
voter, is positively prohibited, and any person guilty of such 
interference shall be arrested and tried by the military 
authorities. 



Enrolling the New Electorate 

War Departwent Archives. G. 0. no. 20, 3d Militarv District. 

'[May 21, 1S67] 

In accordance with [the act of March 23, 1867]. 

I. The States of Georgia and Alabama are divided into 
registration districts, and numbered and bounded as hereinafter 
described. 

II. A Board of Registration is herein appointed for each 
district . . to consist of two white registrars and one colored 
registrar. In the State of Georgia, where only the two white 
registrars are designated in this order, it is directed that these 
white registrars in each district immediately select, and cause to 
be duly qualified . . a competent colored man to complete the 
Board of Registration. . . 

III. Each registrar will be required to take and subscribe 
the ["iron clad" oath] . . and an additional oath to discharge 
faithfully the duty of registrar under the late acts of Congress. 
It is not believed that any of the appointees hereinafter desig- 
nated will be unable to take the test oath mentioned. Blank 
forms of these oaths will be sent to the appointees at once, and 
on being executed and returned to the superintendents of State 
registration, their commissions as registrars will be issued and 
for^varded to them immediately. 

IV. In order to secure a full registration of voters, it Is 
determined to fix the compensation of registrars according to the 
general rule adopted in taking the census. In the cities, the 
compensation is fixed at fifteen cents for each recorded \-oter; in 



432 Dociunentary History of Reconstruction 

the most sparsely settled counties and districts, at forty cents 
per voter. The compensation will be graduated between these 
limits according to the density of the population, and the facili- 
ties of communication. Ten cents per mile will be allowed for 
the transportation of registrars off the lines of railroads and 
steamboats. 

V. It is hereby made the duty of all registrars, and they 
will be expected to perform it strictly, to explain to all persons, 
who have heretofore not enjoyed the right of suffrage, what 
are their political rights and privileges, and the necessity of 
exercising them upon all proper occasions. 

VI. The name of each voter shall appear in the list of 
voters for the precinct or ward in which he resides; and in cases 
where voters have been unable to register, whilst the Board 
were in the vv'ards or precincts, where such voter lives, oppor- 
tunity will be given to register at the county seats of their 
respective counties, at a specified time, of which due notice will 
be given; but the names of all voters thus registered, will be 
placed on the list of voters of their respective precincts. 

VII. The Board of Registration will give due notice, so 
that It may reach persons entitled to register, of the date they 
will be In each election precinct, the time they will spend In it, 
and the place where the registration will be made; and upon 
the completion of the registration for each county, the Board 
of Registration will give notice that they will be present for 
three successive days, at the county seat of such county, to 
register such voters as have failed to register, or been pre- 
vented from registering in their precincts, and to hear evidence 
in the cases of voters rejected by the registrars In the several 
precincts, who may desire to present testimony in their own 
behalf. . . 

IX. The lists of registered voters, for each of the precincts, 
will be exposed In some public place in that precinct, for ten 
consecutive days, at some time subsequent to the completion of 
rhe registration for each county, and before any election is 
held, in order that all supposed cases of fraudulent registration 
may be thoroughly investigated. Due notice will be given 



^/^g Use of the Army in Reconstruction 433 

and provisions made for the time and place for the examination 
and settlement of such cases. 

^ XIL Violence or threats of violence, or any other oppres- 
sive means to prevent any person from registering his name, or 
exercising his political rights, are positively prohibited, and it 
is distinctly announced that no contract or agreement with 
laborers, which deprive them of their wages for any longer 
time than actually consumed in registering or voting willbe 
permitted to be enforced against them in this district; and this 
offence, or any previously mentioned in this paragraph, will 
cause the Immediate arrest of the offender and his trial before 
a military commission. 

XIII. The exercise of the right of every duly authorized 
voter, under the late acts of Congress, to register and vote, is 
guaranteed by the military authorities of this district; and all 
persons whomsoever are warned against any attempt to inter- 
fere to prevent any man from exercising this right, under any 
pretext whatever, other than objection by the usual legal mode. 

XIV. In case of any disturbance or violence at the place 
of registration, or any molestation of registrars or of appii- 
cants to register, the Board of Registration will call upon the 
local civil authorities for a police force, or a posse, to arrest 
the offender and preserve quiet, or, If necessar\% upon the 
nearest military authorities, who are hereby Instructed to furn- 
ish the necessary aid. Any civil officials who refuse, or who 
fail to protect registrars or applicants to register, will be re- 
ported to the headquarters of the officer commanding In the 
State, who will arrest such delinquents, and send charges against 
them to these headquarters, that they may be brought before a 
military commission. [Here follows a list of names of regis- 
trars for the two States]. 



Persons Disfranchised 

War Department Archives. Memoranda published by the command- 
er of the Fifth Military District (Louisiana and Texas). [18G7J 

I. Every person who has acted as United States Senator or 
Representative. 

28 



434 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

2. All who have acted as electors of President or Vice 
President. 

3. Every person who held any position In the x\rmy or 
Navy of the United States. 

4. All persons who held any position under the United 
States, in which they were required to take an oath before they 
entered upon the duties of office; such as officers in the custom- 
house, post-office, mint, judges, and all officers of the United 
States court, United States marshals, and deputies. 

5. All who have been Governor of the State, State senator 
or representative, Secretary of State, treasurer, and all officers 
provided for in the constitution of the State, made In 1845 
and 1852, including judges of courts, justices of peace, clerks 
of courts and deputies, sheriffs and deputies, constable and dep- 
uties, tax-collectors, assessors, coroners, police, jurors, auction- 
eers, pilots, harbor-masters, recorders of conveyance and mort- 
gages, parish recorders, notaries public, and all commissioned 
officers in the State militia. Every person who has acted as 
mayor of the City, treasurer, comptroller, recorder, alderman, 
assessor, tax collector, administrator of the Charity Hospital, 
a member of the Board of Health, a commissioner of 
elections and his clerks, chief of police, lieutenant of 
police, and all who have served on the police force. 
Wardens, and under-wardens of the parish prison and work 
house, board of school-directors, city surgeons and deputies, 
street commissioner and deputies, city attorney and assistant 
attorney, superintendent of public schools, Inspectors of tobacco, 
flour, beef, and pork, and weights and measures, managers of 
the asylums for the deaf and dumb and blind, and sextons of 
cemeteries. 

All w^ho in 1862 and 1864 registered themselves as aliens, or 
who obtained protection papers from the representatives of 
foreign powers. 

Any person who, at any time, held any of the above offices, 
and who afterward engaged in rebellion against the United 
States, or gave aid and comfort to the enemies thereof, is dis- 
qualified from voting. 



The Use of the Army Jn Reconstniclio,, 435 

Questions to be Am-^ered by Persons Proposing ,0 Re-hur 

1. Have you beea United States Senator. Representative, 
or elector of President or Vice President, at any time before 
January 26, 1861 ? 

2. Did you hold any office under the United States Govern- 
ment of any kind whatsoever, before January 26, 1S61 ? 

3. Did you hold any office under the government of this 
State^ of any kind whatsoever, to which you were elected or 
appointed, prior to January 26, 1861 ? 

4. Did you hold any office under the city government, of 
any kind whatsoever, to which you were elected or appointed 
prior to January 26, 1861 ? 

5. Did you in 1862 or In 1S64 register yourself as an alien, 
or did you obtain protection papers from representatives of any 
foreign power? 

In case any of the preceding questions are answered "Yes," 
or should you know they should be so answered, it would be 
proper to ask the following: 

6. Were you in the Confederate service, military, naval, or 
civil, or did you give aid and comfort to those engaged in 
hostility to the United States ? 

If answered, "Yes," or if you know it to be so, they must 
not be registered. 

Interference with the Civil Government 

War Deimrtvient Archives, G. 0. no. 32, 2d Military District. 

[]Vray 30. 1S67] 

I. Any citizen, a qualified voter, according to the [Acts of 
March 2 and March 23, 1867] is eligible to office in the pro- 
visional government of North and South Carolina. All per- 
sons appointed to office will be required to take the oath pres- 
cribed by the act aforesaid, and to file the same, duly subscribed 
and sworn to, wMth the post commander. 

2. All citizens assessed for taxes, and who shall have paid 
taxes for the current year, are qualified to serve as jurors. It 
shall be the duty of the proper civil officers, charged with 
providing lists of jurors, to proceed, within their several juris- 
dictions, without delay, and ascertain the names of all qualified 



43^ Documentary History of Reconstruction 

persons and place them on the jury lists, and from such re- 
vised lists all jurors shall be hereafter summoned and drawn 
in the manner required by law. 

3. All citizens are eligible to follow any licensed calling, 
employment, or vocation, subject to such impartial regulations 
as may be prescribed by municipal or other competent authority, 
not inconsistent with common rights and the Constitution and 
laws of the United States. . . 

4. The mayors of cities, and other municipal town officers, 
and all sheriffs, magistrates, and police officers are required to 
be vigilant in maintaining order, and in the discharge of their 
duties they will be expected to cooperate with the military 
authorities. 

5. Post commanders may summon to their aid, whenever 
the ordinary means at their disposal shall not be sufficient to 
execute their orders, such of the civil officers and as many of 
the citizens within the territorial limits of the military post as 
may be necessary; and the neglect or refusal of any person to 
aid and assist in the execution of the order of the commanding 
officer will be deemed a misdemeanor, punishable by such fine 
or imprisonment as may be imposed by a military tribunal, ap- 
proved by the commanding general. 

6. No license for the sale of intoxicating liquors in quan- 
tities less than one gallon, or to be drunk on the premises, shall 
be granted to any person other than an inn-keeper. The num- 
ber of such licenses shall be determined, and the fees to be 
charged for each license shall be prescribed and collected, by 
the municipal or tow^n authorities, and appropriated exclusively 
for the benefit of the poor. If any person shall be found 
drunk on the premises where liquor is sold, the licenses may be 
revoked by any magistrate. . . 

7. All contracts hereafter made for the manufacture, sale, 
transportation, storage, or insurance of intoxicating liquors 
shall, within this military' district, be deemed and treated as 
against public policy; and no civil suit, action, or proceeding 
for the enforcement of any such contract shall be entertained 
in any court. 



The Use of thej irmyjnj^c^^ 43^ 

8. In public conveyances on railroads, highways, streets, or 
navigable waters no discrimination because of color or caste 
shall be made, and the common rights of all citizens thereon 
shall be recognized and protected. The violation of this reg- 
ulation shall be deemed a misdemeanor, and render the offender 
liable to arrest and trial by a military tribunal, to be designated 
by the commanding general, besides such damages as the 
mjured party may sue for and recover in the civil courts. 

9. Remedy by distress for rent is abolished where lands are 
leased or let out for hire or rent. Cotton, corn, or other pro- 
duce of the sale, when severed from the land, may be im- 
pounded, but the same shall not be removed; and cotton, com, 
or other produce so impounded shall be held as security for the 
rent or hire so claimed, and may be sold in satisfaction for any 
judgment for the same : provided, that any unsatisfied claim for 
labor bestowed upon the cultivation of any such cotton, corn, 
or other produce shall in no case be postponed to anv demand 
for rent or hire but to the extent of such claim for labor, so 
there shall be a lien on such cotton, corn, or other produce, 
having preference for any claim for rent or hire. 



Regulation of Local Government 

War Department Archives, G. 0. no. 25, 3d Military District. 

[May 29, 1867] 

I. The late disgraceful riot at Mobile, due mainly to want of 
efficiency or inclinaLion on the part of the mayor and chief of 
police to perform their obvious duty, seems to render it neces- 
sary that the military authorities of this district should explain 
to all such officials the position they occupy under the laws of 
the United States, and the manner in which they will be 
expected to discharge their trusts. 

II. . . The final responsibility for peace and security in the 
several States in this military district rests . . with the military 
authorities, and in case the civil provisional officers in any part 
of it prove unable or unwilling to protect the people, it will 
become necessary for the military power either to supersede 
them by military officers or by other civil officers. . . 



43^ Documentary History of Reconstruction 

IV. In cities or towns having municipal government, the 
mayor and chief of police, or other civil officers possessing their 
authority . . are required to be present at every public political 
meeting or assemblage which occurs within the limits of their 
jurisdiction, with such police force and arrangements as will 
render disturbance or riots impracticable. It will be no excuse 
to say that such civil authorities did not know of the meeting, 
or did not apprehend disturbance. It is easy by municipal 
regulation to require that sufficient notice of any such meeting 
be given to the mayor or other proper authority to enable him 
to prepare for the suppression of disturbance ; and it is proper 
in the present excited state of the public mind to make such ar- 
rangements as are necessary for the preservation of peace at 
all public political meetings, even if there be really no danger 
of disturbance. . . 

V. At all public meetings or assemblages held outside of 
town or city corporations, the sheriff of the county or his deputy 
or a deputy specially appointed for the occasion, will be present, 
and will, in case of need, organize a posse from the people on 
the ground, which he w^ill hold separate from the body of the 
assemblage, to interpose, if necessary, to preserve the peace; 
but in selecting persons to serve as a temporary police force or 
posse, they are instructed not to summon any of the officers 
or public speakers of the assemblage. Sheriffs, or their depu- 
ties, are empowered to exact service from all thus summoned 
as a posse, and to require that due notice shall be given to the 
sheriffs themselves of any public political meetings or assem- 
blages which may be called in their respective counties, in time 
to make the arrangements herein indicated. . . 

VII. In case of any riot or disturbance, if it cannot be 
clearly shown that the civil officers above indicated Vv^ere pres- 
ent, and actively and faithfully performed their duties, both 
by word and deed, such officers will be deposed from their 
offices and otherwise held responsible by the military authori- 
ties. . . 

VIII. AW commanders of troops in this district are also 
instructed to render the above-mentioned civil officers, on their 



TheJhe_orthe^ Army in Reconstruction 439 



appl.cat.on, whatever military aid may be needed, and the 
m, itary commanders are directed to send a judicious and care- 
ful officer to be present at such political meetings herein re- 
ferred to as may occur within the limits of their jurisdiction. 
Every officer thus detailed, while not interfering with the civil 
officers m the performance of their duties, will stand ready 
to mterpose, and, it necessary, to bring such military force to 
the spot, as the necessity of the case may demand. 

IX. Post and detachment commanders within this district 
are directed to keep themselves advised of all public political 
meetings which take place within the limits of their jurisdiction, 
and during such meetings to hold themselves and their com- 
mands in readiness for immediate action at the call of the 
officer whom they are directed in a previous paragraph of this 
order to send to such meeting. Commanding officers are in- 
formed that they will be held to their full share of responsibility 
for any want of precautionary measures or prompt action to 
prevent riots, or to arrest disturbers of peace. 

Military Police and Courts 

War Department Archives. G. 0. no. 31, 1st Military District. (Vir- 
ginia). Gen. J. M. Schofield in command. [May 28", 1S67] 

I. For the purpose of giving adequate protection to all per- 
sons in their rights of person and property in cases where the 
civil authorities may fail, from whatever cause to give such 
protection, and to insure the prompt suppression of insurrection, 
disorder, and v^iolence, military commissioners, to be selected 
from the officers of the army and of the Freedmen's Bureau, 
will be appointed and given jurisdiction over sub-districts, to 
be defined in the orders appointing them, with sufficient mili- 
tary force to execute or secure the execution of their orders. 

2. For the purpose of suppressing insurrection, disorder or 
violence, the military commissioners are given commatnl of 
the police of cities and the power of counties, in addition to the 
troops that may be placed at their disposal; and all police 
officers, sheriffs, constables, and other persons are required in 
such cases to obey and execute the orders of the Tn.I.Mrv i-M-n- 
missioners. 



440 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

3. For the purpose of protecting individuals in their rights 
of person and property, and of bringing offenders to justice, 
the military commissioners are clothed with all the powers of 
justices of a county, or police magistrates of a city, and will be 
governed in the discharge of their duties by the laws of Vir- 
ginia, so far as the same are not in conflict with the laws of the 
United States or orders issued from these headquarters. 

4. The militaiy commissioners will make a prompt report 
to these headquarters of each case of Avhich they may take jur- 
isdiction, and of the disposition made of such case. Where 
parties are held for trial, either in confinement or under bail, 
such full statement will be made of the facts in each case as 
will enable the commanding general to decide whether the case 
shall be tried by a military commission or be brought before a 
civil court. 

5. Trial by the civil courts will be preferred in all cases 
where there is satisfactory reason to believe that justice will 
be done. But until the orders of the commanding general are 
made known in any case, the paramount jurisdiction assumed by 
the militan- commissioners will be exclusive. 

6. All persons, civil officers and others, are required to 
obey and execute the lawful orders of the military commis- 
sioners to the same extent as they are required by law to obey 
and execute writs issued by civil magistrates. Any person who 
shall disobey or resist the lawful orders or authority of a 
military commissioner shall be tried by a military commission, 
and upon conviction shall be punished by fine and imprison- 
ment, according to the nature and degree of the offense. 

General Grant versus the Attorney General 

Annual Cyclopedia, 1867, p. 51. General Grant to General E. 0. 
C. Ord, Fifth District (Arkansas and Mississippi). Grant's letter 
was written after the instructions of June 20, drawn up by the at- 
torney general, had been sent to the commanders. Grant was pass- 
ing over Into the radical camp. [June 28, 1867] 

General: A copy of your final instructions to the Board of 
Registration, of June 10, 1867, is just received. I entirely 
dissent from the views contained in paragraph four. Your 
views as to the duties of registrars to register ev^ery man who 



TheUse of the Army in Reconstruction 



will take the required oath, though they may know the ap- 
plicant perjures himself, is sustained by the views of the attor- 
ney-general. My opinion is that it is the duty of the Board 
of Registration to see, as far as it lies in their "power, that no 
unauthorized person is allowed to register. To secure this 
end registrars should be allowed to administer oaths and exam- 
ine witnesses. The law, however, makds district commanders 
their own interpreters of their power and duty under it. 



Freedom of the Press Limited 

Annual Cyclopedia. 1S67. p. 758. General Schofield's directions to 
the editor of the Richmond Times. In each state newspapers were 
suppressed. [April 27, 1867] 

Sir: The commanding general directs me to call your atten- 
tion to an editorial article in the Richmond Times of this morn- 
ing, headed, "A Black Man's Party in Virginia," and to say 
that while he desires not only to permit, but to encourage the 
utmost freedom of discussion of political questions, the char- 
acter of the article referred to calls for severe censure. Espec- 
ially the following words, "It is a proposition which implies 
that they are ready to grasp the blood stained hands of the 
authors of our ruin," are an intolerable insult to our soldiers 
of the United States Army, and no less so to all true soldiers 
of the late Confederate army, as they have long since extended 
to each other the cordial hand of friendship, and pledged their 
united efforts to restore peace and harmony to our whole coun- 
try. The efforts of your paper to foster enmity, create dis- 
order, and lead to violence, can no longer be tolerated. It is 
hoped this warning will be sufficient. 



Forcing "Patriotism" 

Annual Cyclopedia, 1867, p. 693. Gen. D. E. Sickles, Second Dis- 
trict, to Gen. H. B. Glitz, commanding Charleston, South Carolma. 

It is reported to me this morning that among the various em- 
blems borne by the several [fire] companies at the rendezvous on 
the citadel parade-ground the flag is not there. I desire that 



442 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

you will at once send for the Chief of the Fire Department, 
and inform him that the national standard must be borne in 
front of the column; that an escort of honor, to consist of two 
members of each company present, will be detailed by himself 
to march with the colors; that the colors be placed opposite the 
reviewing personages on the ground designated for the review, 
and that every person in the column shall salute the colors by 
lifting his hat or cap on arriving at a point three paces distant 
from the colors, and, carrying the cap uplifted, march past the 
colors to a point three-paces from the same. 

The Mayor of the city, the Chief of the Fire Department, 
and the foreman of companies will be held responsible for the 
observance of this order, and they are hereby authorized and 
required to arrest any person who disobeys it. 



General Sheridan in New Orleans 

Jofinson MSS. Report of Ethan A. Allen to President Johnson. 

[April 9, 1867] 

I HAVE been here for several days and mixeci much with the 
people and find the most perfect good will and feeling existing 
toward the Federal Government. There is not the slightest 
desire on their part to oppose the power of your Administration. 
The only turbulent Spirits to be found here are Northern men 
who really appear to be in the interest of the radical element 
in the Eastern States; their whole aim and ambition is to fer- 
ment trouble and they are ready at any time to get up any 
excitement which may be damaging to the harmonious working 
of the Government, and make some political capital for that 
party in the North to the injury of the South. . . 

The removal from Office of Major Monroe here, and sub- 
stitution of Heath by General Sheridan, of Lynch for Atty. 
Genl. in place of Herron and Howe [Home?] for Judge of 
the Criminal Court in place of Abel is truly unfortunate. Judge 
Abel has ever been a strong and uncompro^nising Union man 
— his devotion to the Union has never faultered — he stood 
up manfully throughout the War for the Union, and nothing 
but the Union at the risk of his life during the fearful struggle 



The Use of the Army in Reconstruction 



443 



IS a man 
e. 



through which our Country has so recently passed-he . a ,n 
of hne character and much respected and liked by the peon., 
His removal ,s certainly a poor recompense for his unfaulterin^ 
love of Country. Heath was one of Butler's dirt, spies uhcn 
that General Commanded here. In fact, Mr. President not 
a smgle one of the three appointments made by General Sheri- 
dan are at all creditable — they are men of no status In this 
Community — they are not or have they ever commanded the 
least respect — they are Slran^^ers whose feelings are not all 
identified with the interests of this City or the concilliation of 
the people. There are many, many good and true, respectable, 
and responsible men in New Orleans who could have been 
appointed by Genl. S. who would have been perfectly satisfac- 
tory to Citizens. Then why irritate and insult New Orleans 
by giving such appointments to Imported Yankees. Sheridan 
is becoming more and more unpopular with the people here; 
every day still do, and still will they submit to the Government. 



Military Misrule in Alabama 

MS. account, hy Mrs. T. L. Kennedy. The incident here described 
occurred near Greensboro, Alabama. [1867] 

The negro population was very dense and Military Posts were 
established at intervals of 20 or 30 miles. There was one at 
Greensboro, Ala., and the negroes grew, under its influence, 
impudent beyond endurance. One day a young man, Mr. Tom 
Cowan, resented an insolent remark made to him by a negro 
passing on the street. Immediately, a Yankee officer stepped 
up to Mr. Cowan and slapped him in the face. The young 
man drew his pistol and killed the officer and . . hid in a 
little, dark closet. . . In less than 30 minutes the street was 
filled with a black, surging mass of howling negroes, led by 
the Yankee soldiers, searching for the young man. Two of 
his friends, by the dim light of a candle In that . . closet, shav- 
ed off his mustache, disguised him completely, and placing him 
between them, boldly walked out into the mob, and un-rccog- 
nized went the whole length of the town to a strip of woods, 
where young Cowan made his escape. The infuriated negroes 



444 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

soon discovered this and in retaliation they entered every white 
man's house and seized every gun and pistol thus placing the 
whites at their mercy. They also went to young Cowan's 
home — dragged his younger brother forth and declared their 
intention to keep him as a hostage and . . to hang him if his 
brother did not return. . . In view of the whole town, a tall 
gallows was erected for the execution of this innocent young 
boy. The deepest gloom and despair settled down over the 
whole community. . . By chance, some one remembered hav- 
ing heard that General Marsh, who was stationed at a Post 
about 15 miles off, was 2i Mason. The news soon spread and 
rhe "Masons" of the town dispatched to this officer, and of 
course, we do not know by what means it was arranged, but if 
the sum of $9,000 was paid, the boy would be set free. You 
can form no idea of the poverty of our people after the War, 
but there were some who had little hoards hid away. . . The 
sum exacted was raised and sent as quickly as possible. It was 
never known for what purpose it was demanded, unless it was 
used to buy oft the Federal officers and soldiers. This trans- 
action was not generally known and promptly at the hour ap- 
pointed, the negro mob placed a halter around the young 
victim's neck — and dragged him through the streets to the 
fatal place. A more pathetic spectacle was never witnessed 
than that of the grey-haired father, walking by his son, exhort- 
ing him "To die like a man." Just as the lad was ascending 
the scaffold, the reprieve arrived, in the shape of an order 
from General Marsh forbidding the execution. 

Military "Justice" 

Eu Klux Report, p. 446. Letter of F. S. Lyon to F. P. Blair (1871). 
Lyon was a prominent banker and had served in the Confederate Con- 
gress. [1867-1868] 

While on the subject of military government among us, allow 
me to state to you a few cases not calculated to inspire our 
people with affection for their rulers. At Eutaw, in Ithe 
adjoining county of Greene, [Alabama], a difficulty occurred 
between two individuals, one a carpet-bagger, the other a 
citizen, the latter charging the former with stealing his father's 



^/^g Use of the Army in Reconstruction 445 

wood. The occurrence took place In the dav-time, on a public 
street in the town. An attack was made by the citizen without 
any weapon except the fist; a number of persons rushed to the 
scene and some riotous demonstrations occurred; something was 
said about riding the assailed party on a rail, but no such 
thing was done, and no blow struck except by the party who 
brought on the controversy; no blood was drawn and no 
material damage done. For this offence come six or seven 
young men of Eutaw^ were arrested by military order, carried 
to the then military post of Selma, confined for a time in the 
guard-house, tried by court-martial, convicted and sentenced to 
confinement at hard labor at the Dry Tortugas for periods 
varying from six to two years. After conviction they were 
carried in chains and under military guard by way of Jackson 
Mississippi, New Orleans, and Pensacola, to the place of im- 
prisonment. . . Their friends were not permitted to supply 
them with pocket money when they left. After the confine- 
ment for some time of these young men the public authorities 
perhaps discovered that the punishment Inflicted was excessive 
and out of all proportion to the offence committed, and remitted 
the sentence. . . The men were set at liberty at the Dry 
Tortugas, where no transportation home w-as to be had except 
such as belonged to the Government. They were compelled 
to ship on a credit to a distant port, Galveston, Texas, whence 
they could appeal to their friends for aid. 

Another case of military outrage occurred in the arrest of 
Mr. Barker, a worthy and industrious carriage-maker of Liv- 
ingston, In Sumter County. He was arrested in his own house, 
in the night-time, placed In irons and sent to Selma under a 
military guard, and confined for a time in the military prison, 
the oflficer making the arrest refusing, . . to tell him or his 
friends the cause of arrest. In a short time he was discharged 
without a trial, when the fact w^as made public that he was 
arrested upon the supposed information of a servant in his 
employment. The servant, upon being examined, denied utter- 
ly having made any report or communication charging Barker 
with any crime whatever. 



44^ Documentary History of Reconstruction 

Another taste we had of military rule in time of peace grew 
out of the fact that the Episcopal Church edifice in this town 
was set on fire in the night time by United States soldiers and 
destroyed. . . After the burning of the church it was ascer- 
tained that a number of articles stolen from it were in the 
possession of certain soldiers of a regiment stationed here. 
The fact was communicated to the colonel commanding the 
regiment, and he was requested to cause the soldiers to be ar- 
rested and the facts inquired into. This request was declined 
by the colonel, for the reason . . that the men were dangerous, 
and might, if arrested, commit other offenses. While the 
regiment to which these men belonged was stationed here, it 
was reported that they threatened, when they left here, to burn 
the town. To avoid this, a colonel from another regiment came 
here, took command of it, placed sentinels around the quarters, 
and marched the men off without their knowledge that they 
were taking final leave. . . About the same time, the town of 
Greensborough, in the adjoining county, was fired in several 
places by United States soldiers with the avowed purpose of 
destroying the place. 

Another specimen of military government occurred in the 
arrest and robbery of an old gentleman in this neighborhood, 
Mr. Hatch, who is over seventy years of age. In passing on 
a public street in this town, I saw a soldier stop Mr. Hatch. . . 
I enquired of the soldier what charge existed against Mr. 
Hatch. He said he was not bound to tell me. I asked him 
to show me his authority to make the arrest. He declined to 
do this, but said that he was ordered to carry Mr. Hatch to 
Selma, some fifty miles distant. I called at once at the office 
of Colonel Bowyer, who commanded here, informed him of 
the occurrence, and asked him to have the soldier and Mr. 
Hatch brought before him. . . The soldier stated to the 
colonel he proposed carrying Mr. Hatch to Selma that day. 
Mr. Hatch offered to give security for his appearance in Selma 
next day, as he wished to return home to see his family, some 
of whom were sick, before going to Selma. The colonel ad- 
vised the soldier to accede to this, which he did, and upon Mr. 



^^^^ U^e o fjh^Arm y in Reconstruct ion 447 

Hatch's arrival In Selma in the evening he was arrested by a 
guard of soldiers, who proposed to march him oft' to a di'rty 
guard-house. He was told he could deposit $500 for his 
appearance next morning. He made the deposit, took a re- 
ceipt for the same, and appeared next morning. He could 
hear of no charge against him, was told he might go home, and 
that to return his $500 required the order of the commanding 
general, who was absent. . . From that day to this Mr. Hatch 
has never received his $500. 



Completion of Military Reconstruction 

War Department Archives. G. 0. no. 100, 3d Military District. In 
each state the officials elected under the Reconstruction acts were 
appointed in place of the provisional officials and after complying 
with the conditions of Congress their tenure was declared perman- 
ent and the army withdrew. [July 9, 18G8] 

Whereas, by virtue of the Act of Congress, which became a 
law June 25, 1868, and of the proclamation of the Governor- 
elect of the State of Alabama, issued in conformity therewith, 
the two Houses of the Legislature are directed to assemble at 
Montgomery on the 13th instant; and 

fFhcrciis, in view of the fact that until the State of Alabama 
has complied with the requirements of the acts of Congress 
entitling it to representation, all governmental officers in said 
State are provisional and subject to the direct authority of the 
district commander; and 

JVhcreas, The usual [method?] of organizing legislative 
bodies is In this instance Impracticable: 

It is ordered — i. That the Hon. William H. Smith, Pro- 
visional Governor of the State of Alabama, proceed at 12 M., 
on the 13th instant, to eft'ect such preliminary organization of 
both Houses of the Legislature as will enable the same to enter 
upon the discharge of the duties assigned them by law. 2. 
That before each House shall be considered legally organized, 
the Provisional Governor will require that, in conformity with 
the reconstruction acts and act which became a law June 25, 
1868, each House, before proceeding to any business beyond 
organization, shall take measures to purge Itself of all mem- 



44B Documentary History of Reconstruction 

bers who may be disqualified from holding office under the 
provisions of Section 3, of the amendment to the Constitution 
known as Article 14. 



Militarj^ Districts Discontinued 

Annual Cyclopedia, 1868. p. 272. A War Department order. Later 
when Georgia was expelled, the Third Military District was revived. 
The First, Third, Fourth, and Fifth, were finally discontinued in 1870 
after the readmission of the remaining states. [1868] 

The commanding generals in the Second, Third, Fourth and 
Fifth Military Districts, having officially reported that Arkan- 
sas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Louisiana, Georgia, Ala- 
bama, and Florida have complied with the reconstruction acts, 
including the act of June 25, 1868, and that consequently so 
much of the act of March 2, 1867, and all acts supplementary 
thereto, providing for military districts, subject to the military 
authority of the United States, as therein provided, have become 
incorporated in said States, and commanding generals have 
ceased exercising military powers conferred by said acts; there- 
fore, the following changes will be made in the organization 
and commands of military districts and geographical depart- 
ments: 

First. The Second and Third military districts having ceas- 
ed to exist. North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, 
and Florida, will constitute the Department of the South, Gen- 
eral Meade to command with headquarters at Atlanta, Georgia. 



4. IN THE "BLACK AND TAN" CONVENTIONS 
The Need for Carpetbaggers 

Proceedings of Constitutional Convention of South Carolina pi, .,.,m 
553, 613. Extracts from speeches made in South Carolina con- 
vention by D. H. Chamberlain of Massachusetts, later governor of the 
state, and Robert De Large, negro. There had been an attempt by 
the "scalawags" to fix a term of residence as a prerequisite to holding 
office. This would shut out the "Carpetbaggea-s." [IJGS] 

[D. H. Chamberlain]. . . There are reasons why men who 
have not been identified to South Carolina in the past, who have 
formed their opinions in a different atmosphere, should not 
only have an equal chance, but be preferred for the most im- 
portant offices in the gift of the people of the State. . . There 
may be cases -where a man who does not know hut little of 
the State, but who has none of the prejudices against color or 
race, which is almost universal with the natives of the soil, . . 
it is an advantage in a candidate that he should not have been 
born and bred on the soil of South Carolina. . . It is rather to 
his advantage that he was born where he could not have im- 
bibed the prejudices of South Carolina . . is it not better for 
us, in the first place, to select for the position of Governor of 
South Carolina a man who is familiar with the ways of freedom 
by birth and education . . and, second, . . not to narrow our 
choice and exclude those familiar Avith the ways of freedom 
from having a share in the offices of the State. . . 

[Robert De Large]. It is showing . . ingratitude . . to 
a class of men to whom we are indebted for the privileges we 
are enjoying as members of this Convention, and to whom we 
m.ust still continue to look for support. To be a good Gov- 
ernor, there is no doubt that a man should thoroughly under- 
stand the people of the State, but he need not possess more than 
ordinary intelligence to acquire the desired knowledge in a 
residence of two years. There is a class of men able and 
brilliant in South Carolina, who have not learned the people 
of the State, yet they plunged that State in rebellion, and it 
would take until the judgment day for them to learn the people 
that we represent. They are a class whom his Satanic majesty 

449 



450 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

has learned, and they cannot be learned by any other influence. 
But any man In this State who has been here since the war, 
especially if a Northern man . . is, in my judgment, sufficiently 
familiar with the condition of affairs to qualify him, in that 
respect at least, for the office of Governor. There are some 
who have travelled the State very extensively, especially those 
who belonged to Sherman's army, and they possess a degree 
of familiarit)' with the people superior to any others. 



Correcting the Vocabulary of South Carolina 

Proceedings of Constitutional Convention of South Carolina. Reso- 
lutions introduced by T. J. Coghlan and adopted by the conven- 
tion. [1868] 

Resolved, That this Convention take such action as it may in 
Its wisdom deem compatible with its powers, and conducive 
to the public weal, to expunge forever from the vocabulary 
of South Carolina, the epithets "negro," "nigger," and "Yan- 
kee." . . 

Resolved, That the exigencies and approved civilization of 
the times demand that this Convention, or the Legislative 
body created by it, enact such laws as will make It a penal of- 
fence to use the abov^e epithets in the manner described against 
an American citizen of this State, and to punish the insult by 
fine or imprisonment. 



Lands for the Freedmen 

Proceedings of Constitutional Convention of South Carolina, pp. 116, 
379, 426. Speeches of F. L. Cardozo, negro; R. H. Cain, white; 
C. P. Leslie, white. As long as the convention was in session the 
question of free lands for the negroes kept coming up. [1868] 

[F. L. Cardozo]. One of the greatest of slavery bulwarks 
was the Infernal plantation system, one man owning his thou- 
sand, another his twenty, another fifty thousand acres of land. 
This Is the only way by which we w^ill break up that system., 
and I maintain that our freedom will be of no effect if we allow 
It to continue. What is the main cause of the prosperity of 
the North. It Is because every man has his own farm and is 
free and independent. Let the lands of the South be sim- 



In the ''Black and Tan" Conventions 451 



ilarly divided. I would not say for one moment they should 
be confiscated, but if sold to maintain the war, now that slavery 
is destroyed, let the plantation system go with it. We will 
never have true freedom until we abolish the system of agri- 
culture which existed in the Southern States. It is useless to 
have any schools while we maintain the stronghold of slavery 
as the agricultural system of the country. 

[R. H. Cain]. I believe the possession of lands and home- 
steads is one of the best means by which a people is made 
industrious, honest and advantageous to the State. I believe 
that it is a fact well known, that over three hundred thousand 
men, women and children are homeless, landless. , . How are 
they to live. I know the philosopher of the New York Tri- 
bune says, "root hog or die;" . . My proposition is simply to 
give the hog some place to root. . . As long as people are 
working on shares and contracts, and at the end of the year are 
in debt, so long will they and the country suffer. . . If these 
people had homes along the lines of railroads, and the lands 
were divided and sold in small farms, I Avill guarantee our 
railroads will make fifty times as much money, banking systems 
will be advanced by virtue of the settlement of the people 
throughout the Avhole State. We want these large tracts of 
land cut up. . . What we need is a system of small farms. 
Every farmer owning his own land will feel he is in possession 
of something. It will have a tendency to settle the minds of 
the people in the State and settle many difficulties. In the 
rural districts now there is a constant discontent, constant mis- 
apprehension between the parties, a constant disregard for each 
other. . . I want these lands purchased by the Government, 
and the people afforded an opportunity to buy from the Gov- 
ernment. I believe if the same amount of money that has 
been employed by the Bureau in feeding lazy, worthless men 
and women, had been expended in purchasing lands, wc would 
to-day have no need of the Bureau. . . I propose to let the 
poor people buy these lands, the government to be paid hack 
in five years time. . . 

[C. P. Leslie]. We all know that the colored people want 



452 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

land. Night and day they think and dream of it. It is their 
all in all. . . I cannot but denounce those who would, for 
political purposes, add to their misery by raising expectations 
that could never be realized. The gentleman from Charleston 
(R. H. Cain), knew when he offered the resolution and peti- 
tion he would never get a dollar. Is it right to raise the 
hopes of these people to have them again dashed to the earth, 
and made ten fold more miserable? . . I am honest and sin- 
cere in my desire to do anything practicable, . . but I will 
do nothing, even at the risk of my political position or other- 
wise, that I know w^ill be a snare. Why should we deceive 
this people? Why allow them to return to their homes and 
scatter widely through the State that they are going to get a 
home? Each one tells the other and they tell forty more, 
and so it goes on causing untold mischief and exciting false 
hopes among the freedmen. The President, but the other 
day, directed the attention of the house to a letter received by 
General Scott, reciting the fact that certain freedmen, who 
have been working upon a plantation in Berkley district, refused 
to contract or to do anything until this Convention adjourned, 
and the owner had to appeal to General Scott to instruct the 
freedmen, and . . a resolution was passed informing the freed- 
men that the Convention had no lands at their disposal. 

Disfranchising Ex-Confederates in Alabama 

Montgomery Mail. November 6, 1867. Speeches of E. W. Peck of New 
York and Tom Lee, negro, in the Alabama constitutional conven- 
tion. [November 5, 1867] 

[E. W. Peck]. The success and salvation of the Radical 
party . . depends upon the passage by this convention of the 
disfranchising clauses of the majority report. I believe the 
majority report while . . not rigidly . . confined to the let- 
ter of the Reconstruction Acts, is framed in the spirit and 
adheres to their intent and purpose. The great object which 
ought to govern the action of the convention is to keep the 
State out of the control of disloyal men. . . The oath protects 
the colored people of the State effectually against any infringe- 
ment of the civil and political rights v/hich have been recently 



In the ''Black and Tan" Conventi 



ons 



granted, and secures for Alabama perfect civil and political 
equality. I do not see how a man can conscientiously take 
that oath if he entertains any intention of depriving the col- 
ored people of the equality of the civil and political rights 
which they now enjoy. . . Most of the men who had entered 
into the scheme of secession, I believe, have been honest, hon- 
orable, Christian men, and if they consented to take this oath 
they would keep it. . . Under this oath, the Republican party 
would gain two votes where their enemies would get one. 
There were many good men who participated In the rebellion, 
who are now in favor of reconstruction, and would gladly 
take this oath. The oath does not require this class of men 
to renounce their belief in the right of secession, but to re- 
nounce the right. The question of secession has already been 
decided by the test of battle, and although some men might 
still believe in the original right of secession, they are . . If 
they are sensible and rational, content to abide by the decision 
arrived at. . . The meaning of the Reconstruction Act is un- 
doubtedly that the State should be reconstructed by loyal men, 
and no man, w^ho insists not only In the belief, but in the right 
of secession, ought to be regarded as a loyal man or intrusted 
with any political powers. 

[Tom Lee]. I advocate the adoption of the minority re- 
port, because this report grants equal civil and political rights 
to all men, of every race and every color. This Is all that I, 
as a colored man, can ask for my race. . . I have no desire 
to take away any rights of the white man; all I want is equal 
rights in the court-house and equal rights when I go to vote. 
I think the time has come when charity and moderation should 
characterize the actions of all. Besides, the minority report 
is confined strictly to the reconstruction measures of Congress, 
which measures define the powers and limit the action of this 
convention. To go beyond these would be to endanger the 
ratification of the constitution formed by this convention, both 
by the people and by Congress, and I believe that, if the col- 
ored race do not get their rights secured without delay, . . 
they will never get them. 



5. OPPOSITION TO THE NEW CONSTITUTIONS 



The New Constitutions 

Extracts from the constitutions of Louisiana, Arkansas, and Mis- 
sissippi. [1868] 

Louisiana Constitution, iS68 
Art. 2. All persons, without regard to race, color, or previous 
condition, born or naturalized in the United States, and sub- 
ject to the jurisdiction thereof, and residents of this State for 
one year, are citizens of this State. The citizens of this State 
owe allegiance to the United States; and this allegiance is 
paramount to that which they owe to the State. They shall 
enjoy the same civil, political and public rights and privileges, 
and be subject to the same pains and penalties. . . 

Art. 13. All persons shall enjoy equal rights and priv- 
ileges upon any conveyance of a public character; and all 
places of business, or of public resort, or for which a license 
is required by either State, parish, or municipal authority, shall 
be deemed places of a public character, and shall be opened 
to the accommodation and patronage of all persons, without 
distinction or discrimination on account of race or color. 

Arkansas Constitution, 1868 
Article VII, Sec. 5. All persons before registering or vot- 
ing must take and subscribe the following oath: "I, 

, do solemnly swear, (or affirm) that I will support 

and maintain the Constitution and laws of the United States, 
and the constitution and laws of the State of Arkansas; that 
I will never countenance or aid in the secession of this State 
from the United States; that I accept the civil and political 
equality of all men, and agree not to attempt to deprive any 
person or persons, on account of race, color, or previous con- 
dition, of any political or civil right, privilege or immunity 
enjoyed by any other class of men; and, furthermore, that I 
will not in any way injure, or countenance in others any at- 
tempt to injure person or persons, on account of past or pres- 
ent support of the Government of the United States, the laws 

454 



opposition to the Neav Constitutions 



of the United States or the principle of the civil and political 
equality of all men, or for affiliation with any political party. 

Mississippi Constitution, i86S 
Article VII, Sec. 5. No person shall be eligible to any of- 
fice of profit or trust, civil or military, in this State, who, as 
a member of the legislature, voted for the call of the conven- 
tion that passed the ordinance of secession, or who, as a dele- 
gate to any convention, voted for or signed any ordinance of 
secession, or who gave voluntary aid, countenance, counsel, or 
encouragement to persons engaged in military hostilit)' to the 
United States, or who accepted or attempted to exercise any 
office, civil or military, under any authority or pretended gov- 
ernment, authority, power, or constitution, within the United 
States, hostile or inimical thereto, except all persons who aided 
reconstruction by voting for this convention, or who have con- 
tinually advocated the assembling of this convention, and shall 
continuously and in good faith advocate the acts of the same; 
but the legislature shall remove such disability: Provided, 
That nothing in this section, except voting for or signing the 
ordinance of secession, shall be so construed as to exclude from 
office the private soldier of the late so-called Confederate States 
Army. 

Objections to the New Constitution of South Carolina 

J. S. Reynolds, Reconstruction in South Carolina, p. 93. Protest, 
submitted to Congress by the whites of South Carolina. [18G8] 

Intelligence, virtue, and patriotism are to give place, in all 
elections, to ignorance, stupidity and vice. The superior race 
is to be made subservient to the Inferior. Taxation and repre- 
sentation are no longer to be united. They who own no 
property are to levy taxes and make all appropriations. The 
property-holders have to pay these taxes without having any 
voice in levying them. The consequences will be, In effect, 
confiscation. The appropriations to support free schools for 
the education of the negro children, for the support of old 
negroes in the poor-houses, and the vicious In jails and peni- 
tentiarv, together with a standing army of negro soldiers, wdl 



45^ Documentary History of Reconstruction 

be crushing and utterly ruinous to the State. Every man's 
property will have to be sold to pay his taxes. . . 

That constitution was the work of Northern adventurers, 
Southern renegades, and ignorant negroes. Not one per cent, 
of the white population of the State approves it, and not two 
per cent, of the negroes who voted for its adoption under- 
stand what the act of voting implied. The constitution en- 
franchises every male negro over the age of twenty-one, and dis- 
franchises many of the . . best white men of the State. The 
negroes being in a large numerical majority as compared with 
the whites, the effect is that the new constitution establishes 
in this State negro supremacy, with all its train of countless 
evils. A superior race . . is put under the rule of an inferior 
race; the abject slaves of yesterday, the flushed freedmen of 
to-day. And think you that there can be any just, lasting re- 
construction on this basis? The committee respectfully reply, 
in behalf of their white fellow-citizens, that this cannot be. 
We do not mean to threaten resistance by arms. But the 
white people of our State will never quietly submit to negro 
rule. We may hav^e to pass under the yoke . . but by moral 
agencies, by political organization, by every peaceful means left 
us, we will keep up this contest until we have regained the 
heritage of political control handed down to us by honored 
ancestry. This is a duty we owe to the land that is ours, to 
the graves that it contains, and to the race of which you and 
we are alike members — the proud Caucasian race, whose 
sovereignty on earth God has ordained, and they themselves 
have illustrated on the most brilliant pages of the world's his- 
tory. 



Whites Petition aganist Reconstruction 

Annual Cyclopedia, 1S6S, p. 16. After the work of the Constitutioa- 
al convention the whites of Alabama sent this petition to Congress. 

[1868] 

We are beset by secret oath-bound political societies; our 
character and conduct are systematically misrepresented and 
magnified to you and in the newspapers of the North; the 
Intelligent and Impartial administration of just laws is obstruc- 



opposition to the Neiv Constitutions 4-7 



ted; industry and enterprise are paralyzed by the fears of the 
white men and the expectations of the black that Alabama 
will soon be delivered over to the rule of the latter; and many 
of our best people are, for these reasons, leaving the homes 
they loved for others in strange lands. Continue over us, if 
you will do so, your own rule by the sword. Send down 
among us honorable and upright men of your own people, of 
the race to which you and we belong, and ungracious, contrary 
to wise policy and the institutions of the country, and tyran- 
nous as it will be, no hand will be raised among us to resist by 
force their authority. But do not, we implore you, abdicate 
your rule over us, by transferring us to the blighting, brutaliz- 
ing, and unnatural dominion of an alien and inferior race, a 
race which has never exhibited sufficient administrative ability 
for the good government of even the tribes into which it is 
broken up in its native seats; and which in all ages has itself 
furnished slaves for all the other races of the earth. 



6. IMPEACHMENT OF THE PRESIDENT 



Articles of Impeachment 

Trial of Andrew Johnson, vol. i, p. 6. Nine articles were adopted 
on, March 2, and two were added the next day. [March 2-3, 1868] 

Articles exhibited by the House of Representatives of the Uni- 
ted States, in the name of themselves and all of the people 
of the United States, against Andrew Johnson, President of 
the United States, in maintenance and support of their im- 
peachment against him for high crimes and misdemeanors in 
office. 

ARTICLE I 

That said Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, 
on [February 21, 1868], at Washington, in the District of 
Cokimbia, unmindful of the high duties of his office, of his 
oath of office, and of the requirement of the Constitution that 
he should take care that the laws be faithfully executed, did 
unlawfully, and in violation of the Constitution and laws of the 
United States issue an order in writing for the removal of 
Edwin M. Stanton from the office of Secretary for the De- 
partment of War, said Edwin M. Stanton having been there- 
tofore duly appointed and commissioned by and with the ad- 
vice and consent of the Senate of the United States, as such 
Secretary, and said Andrew Johnson, President of the United 
States, on [August 12, 1867], and during the recess of said 
Senate, having suspended by his order Edwin M. Stanton from 
said office, and within twenty days after the first day of the 
next meeting of said Senate, that is to say, on the twelfth day 
of December in the year last aforesaid having reported to said 
Senate such suspension with the evidence and reasons for his 
action in the case and the name of the person designed to per- 
form the duties of such office temporarily until the next meet- 
ing of the Senate, and said Senate thereafterwards, on [January 
13, 1868], having duly considered the evidence and reasons 
reported by said Andrew Johnson for said suspension, and 
having refused to concur In said suspension, whereby and by 

458 



force of the provisions of [the Tenure of Office \ct Mnr.N 
2, 1867], V said Edwin M.Stanton did forthwth\« 
tunct^ons of h.s office, whereof the said Andrew Jons^hd 
then and there due notice, and said Edwin M. Stanton, by rea 
son o the prem.ses, on said twenty-first day of February, being 
lawfully entitled to hold said office of Secretary for the Depart 
ment of War, which sa.d order for the removal of said Edwin 
M. Stanton is in substance as follows, that is to say: 

u„, , "Executive Mansion, 
"QTT? R f^ashington, D. C, February 21, 1S68. 
. ^^^' ^l^y virtue of the power and authority vested 
in me as President by the Constitution and laws of the 
United btates you are hereby removed from office as Sec- 
retary tor the Department of War, and your functions 
as such will terminate upon the receipt of this communi- 
cation. 

"You \\\\\ transfer to Brevet Major General Lorenzo 
Thomas, Adjutant General of the Army, who has this 
day been authorized and empowered to act as Secretary of 
War ad interim, all records, books, papers, and other pub- 
lic property now in your custody and charge. 
"Respectfully yours, 

"Andrew Joiinsov. 

"To the Hon. Edwin M. Stanton, 
"Washington, D. C." 

Which order was unlawfully issued with intent then and there 
to violate the act entitled "An act regulating the tenure of cer- 
tain civil offices," passed March second, eighteen hundred and 
sixty-seven, and with the further intent, contrary to the pro- 
visions of said act, in violation thereof, and contrary to the 
provisions of the Constitution of the United States, and with- 
out the advice and consent of the Senate of the United States, 
the said Senate then and there being in session, to remove Ed- 
win M. Stanton from the office of Secretary for the Depart- 
ment of War, the said Edwin M. Stanton being then and there 
Secretary for the Department of War, and being then and 
there in the due and lawful execution and discharge of the 
duties of said office, whereby said Andrew Johnson, President 



460 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

of the United States, did then and there commit and was 
guilty of a high misdemeanor in office. 

ARTICLE II 

That on [February 21, 1868], at Washington, in the Dis- 
trict of Columbia, said Andrew Johnson, President of the Uni- 
ted States, unmindful of the duties of his office, of his oath of 
off.ce, and in violation of the Constitution of the United States, 
and contrary to the provisions of [the Tenure of Office Act], 
without the advice and consent of the Senate of the United 
States, said Senate then and there being in session, and without 
authority of the law, did, with intent to violate the Constitu- 
tion of the United States, and the act aforesaid, issue and 
deliver to one Lorenzo Thomas a letter of authority in sub- 
stance as follows, that is to say: 

"Executive Mansion, 
"JFashington, D. C, February 21, 1868. 
"SIR: The Hon. Edwin M. Stanton having been 
this day removed from office as Secretary for the De- 
partment of War, you are hereby authorized and empow- 
ered to act as Secretary of War ad interim, and will imme- 
diately enter upon the discharge of the duties pertaining 
to that office. 

"Mr. Stanton has been instructed to transfer to you all 
the records, boolcs, papers, and other public property now 
in his custody and charge. 

"Respectfully yours, 

"Andrew Johnson. 

"To Brevet Major General Lorenzo Thomas, 

"Adjutant General U. S. Army, Washington, D. C." 

Then and there being no vacancy in said office of Secretary for 
the Department of War, whereby said Andrew Johnson, . . 
'did then and there commit and was guilty of a high misde- 
meanor in office. 

article III 
That said Andrew Johnson, . . on [February 21, 1868], 
at Washington, in the District of Columbia, did commit and 
was guilty of a high misdemeanor in office in this, that, without 



Impeachment of the President 461 



authority of law, while the Senate of the United States was 
then and there in session, he did appoint one Lorenzo Thomas 
to be Secretary for the Department of War a^l vilcrim, without 
the advice and consent of the Senate, and with intent to viohitc 
the Constitution of the United States, no vacancy having hap- 
pened in said office of Secretary for the Department of War 
during the recess of the Senate, and no vacancy existing in saiii 
office at the time, and which said appointment, so made hy 
said Andrew Johnson, of said Lorenzo Thomas, is in sub- 
stance as follows, that is to say: [Here follows the same note 
that is reproduced in Article IL] 

ARTICLE IV 

That said Andrew Johnson . . [on February 21, 1868], at 
Washington, in the District of Columbia, did unlawfully con- 
spire with one Lorenzo Thomas, and with other persons to the 
House of Representatives unknown, with intent, by intimida- 
tion and threats, unlawfully to hinder and prevent Edwin M. 
Stanton, then and there the Secretary for the Department of 
War, duly appointed under the laws of the United States, from 
holding said office of Secretary for the Department of War, 
contrary to and in violation of the Constitution of the United 
States, and of the provisions of an act entitled "An act to define 
and punish certain conspiracies," approved July thirty-first, 
eighteen hundred and sixty-one, -whereby said Andrew John- 
son, President of the United States, did then and there commit 
and was guilty of a high crime in office. 

ARTICLE V 

That said Andrew Johnson . . [on February 21, 1S6S] 
and on divers other days and times in said year, before [March 
2, 1868], at Washington, In the District of Columbia, did 
unlawfully conspire with one Lorenzo Thomas, and with other 
persons to the House of Representatives unknown, to prevent 
and hinder the execution of [the Tenure of Office Act] . . 
and in pursuance of said conspiracy, did unlawfully attempt to 
prevent Edwin M. Stanton, then and there being Secretary for 
the Department of War, duly appointed an.l commissioned 



462 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

under the laws of the United States, from holding said office, 
whereby the said Andrew Johnson, President of the United 
States, did then and there commit and was guilty of a high mis- 
demeanor in office. 

ARTICLE VI 

That said Andrew Johnson, . . [on February 21, 1868], at 
Washington, in the District of Columbia, did unlawfully con- 
spire with one Lorenzo Thomas by force to seize, take, and 
possess the property of the United States in the Department 
of War, and then and there in the custody and charge of Ed- 
win M. Stanton, Secretary for said department, contrary to 
the provisions of [the Conspiracy Act, July 31, 1861] . . 
and with intent to violate and disregard [the Tenure of Office 
Act] . . whereby said Andrew Johnson, President of the Uni- 
ted States, did then and there commit a high crime in office. 

ARTICLE VII 

That said Andrew Johnson . . [on February 21, 1868], 
at Washington, in the District of Columbia, did unlawfully 
conspire with one Lorenzo Thomas with intent unlawfully to 
seize, take, and possess the property of the United States, in 
the Department of War, in the custody and charge of Edwin 
M. Stanton, Secretary for said department, with intent to vio- 
late and disregard [the Tenure of Office Act] . . whereby 
said Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, did then 
and there commit a high misdemeanor in office. 

ARTICLE VIII 

That said Andrew Johnson, . . with intent unlawfully to 
control the disbursements of the moneys appropriated for the 
militar}^ service and for the Department of War, on [February 
21, 1868] . . at Washington, in the District of Columbia, did 
unlawfully and contrary to the provisions of [the Tenure of 
Office Act] . . and in violation of the Constitution of the 
United States, and without the advice and consent of the Sen- 
ate of the United States, and while the Senate was then and 
there in session, there being no vacancy in the office of Secre- 
tary for the Department of War, and with intent to violate 



and d sregard the act aforesaid, then and there issue a„J dc 
hver to one Lorenzo Tho,^as a letter of authority in writing 
m substance as follows, that is to say: [Here follows th^ 
same note that is reproduced in Article II] 

Whereby said Andrew Johnson, President' of the L'nitcd 
States, d,d then and there commit and was guilty of a lu.h 
misdemeanor in office. 

ARTICLE IX 

That said Andrew Johnson . . [on February 22, 1S68] 
. . at Washington, in the District of Columbia, in disregard 
of the Constitution and the laws of the United States duly 
enacted, as commander-in-chief of the army of the United 
States, did bring before himself then and there William H. 
Emory, a major general by brevet in the army of the United 
States, actually in command of the department of Washington 
and the military forces thereof, and did then and there as 
such commander-in-chief, declare to and instruct said Emory 
that part of a law of the United States, passed March second, 
eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, entitled "An act making 
appropriations for the support of the army for the year end- 
ing June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, and for 
other purposes," especially the second section thereof, which 
provides, among other things, that "all orders and instructions 
relating to military operations, issued by the President or 
Secretary of War, shall be issued through the General of the 
army, and in case of inability, through the next in rank," was 
unconstitutional, and in contravention of the commission of 
said Emory, and which said provision of law had been there- 
fore duly and legally promulgated by General Orders for 
the government and direction of the army of the United States, 
as the said Andrew Johnson then and there well knew, with 
intent thereby to induce said Emory, in his official capacity as 
commander of the department of Washington, to violate the 
provisions of said act, and to take and receive, act upon, and 
obey such orders as he, the said Andrew Johnson, might make 
and give, and which should not be issued through the General 
of the army of the United States, according to the provisions 



464 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

of said act, and with the further intent thereby to enable him, 
the said Andrew Johnson, to prevent the execution of the 
[Tenure of Office Act] . . and to unlawfully prevent Edwin 
M. Stanton, then being Secretary for the Department of War, 
from holding said office and discharging the duties thereof, 
vvhereby said Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, 
did then and there commit and was guilty of a high misde- 
meanor in office. 

And the house of Representatives, by protestation, saving 
to them^selves the liberty of exhibiting at any time hereafter 
any further articles, or other accusation or impeachment against 
the said Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, and 
also of replying to his answers which he shall make unto the 
articles herein preferred against him, and of offering proof 
to the same, and every part thereof, and to every other 
article, accusation, or impeachment which shall be exhibited by 
them, as the case shall require, DO DEMAND that the said 
Andrew Johnson may be put to answer the high crimes and 
misdemeanors in office herein charged against him, and that 
such proceedings, examinations, trials, and judgments may be 
thereupon had and given as may be agreeable to law and jus- 
tice. 

ARTICLE X 
That said Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, 
unmindful of the high duties of his office, and the dignity and 
proprieties thereof, and of the harmony and courtesies which 
ought to exist and be maintained between the executive and 
legislative branches of the government of the United States, 
designing and intending to set aside the rightful authority and 
powers of Congress, did attempt to bring into disgrace, ridi- 
cule, hatred, contempt, and reproach the Congress of the Uni- 
ted States, and the several branches thereof, to impair and 
destroy the regard and respect of all the good people of the 
United States for the Congress and legislative powers thereof, 
(which all officers of the government ought inviolably to pre- 
serve and maintain,) and to excite the odium and resentment of 
all the good people of the United States against Congress and 



'^^^Peachment of the President 



the laws l^^ It duly and constitutionally enacted; and in pur- 
suance of h,s sa.d design and intent, openly and public , and 
before divers assemblages of the citizens of the United S a es 
convened m divers parts thereof to meet and receive said An! 
drew Johnson as the Chief Magistrate of the United Sta'tes 
did, on [August IS, 1866] . . and on divers other days and 
imes, as well before as aftenvard, make and deliver, with a 
loud voice, certain intemperate, inflammatory, and scandalous 
harangues, and did therein utter loud threats and bitter men- 
aces, as well against Congress as the laws of the United States 
duly enacted thereby, amid the cries, jeers, and laughter of 
the multitudes then assembled and in hearing, which are set 
forth in the several specifications hereinafter written, in sub- 
stance and effect, that is to say : 

Specification first. — In this, that at Washington, in the 
District of Columbia, in the Executive Mansion, to a com- 
mittee of citizens who called upon the President of the United 
States, speaking of and concerning the Congress of the Uni- 
ted States, said Andrew Johnson, President of the United 
States, heretofore, to-wit, on . . [August i8, 1866] . . did, 
in a loud voice, declare, in substance and effect, among other 
things, that is to say: 

"So far as the executive department of the government is 
concerned, the effort has been made to restore the Union, to 
t heal the breach, to pour oil into the Avounds which were con- 
sequent upon the struggle, and (to speak in common phrase) 
to prepare, as the learned and wise physician would, a plaster 
healing in character and co-extensive with the wound. Wc 
thought, and we think, that we had partially succeeded; but, 
as the work progresses, as reconstruction seemed to be taking 
place, and the country was becoming reunited, we found a dis- 
turbing and marring element opposing us. In alluding to that 
element I shall go no further than your convention, and the 
distinguished gentleman who has delivered to me the report 
of its proceedings. I shall make no reference to it that I do 
not believe the time and occasion justify. 

"We have witnessed in one department of the government 



466 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

every endeavor to prevent the restoration of peace, harmony 
and union. We have seen hanging upon the verge of the 
government, as it were, a body called, or which assumed to be, 
the Congress of the United States, while, in fact, it is a Con- 
gress of only a part of the States. We have seen the Con- 
gress pretend to be for the Union, when its every step and act 
tended to perpetuate disunion and make a disruption of the 
States inevitable. . . . We have seen Congress grad- 
ually encroach, step by step, upon constitutional rights, and 
violate, day after day and month after month, fundamental 
principles of the government. We have seen a Congress that 
seemed to forget that there was a limit to the sphere and scope 
of legislation. We have seen a Congress in a minority assume 
to exercise power which, allowed to be consummated, would 
result in despotism or monarchy itself." 

Specification second. — In this, that at Clev^eland in the 
State of Ohio, heretofore, to-wit, on . . [September 3, 1866] 
. . before a public assemblage of citizens and others, said 
Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, speaking of 
and concerning the Congress of the United States, did, in a 
loud voice, declare, in substance and effect, among other things, 
tnat is to say: 

"I will tell you what I did do. I called upon your Con- 
gress that is trying to break up the government. . . 

"In conclusion, beside that. Congress had taken much pains 
to poison their constituents against him. But what had Con- 
gress done? Have they done anything to restore the union 
of these States? No; on the contrary, they have done every- 
thing to prevent it; and because he stood now where he did 
when the rebellion commenced, he had been denounced as a 
traitor. Who had run greater risks or made greater sacrifices 
than himself? But Congress, factious and domineering, had 
undertaken to poison the minds of the American people." 

Specification third. — In this, that at St. Louis, in the State 

of Missouri, heretofore, to-wit, on . . [September 8, 1866] 

. . before a public assemblage of citizens and others, said 

Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, speaking of 



Impeachment of the President 



and concerning the Congress of the United States did in . 
loud _,J..e. substance and e.ect,a.o.^ 

of "n' ' O /'""^'''' '^ ^:'" ^'^ ' "°^^ °^ ^^- «n the subject 
of New Orleans you m.ght understand more about it t an 
you do. And .f you will go back _ if you will go back and 
ascertain the cause of the riot at New Orleans, perhaps you 
wi not be so prompt in calling out 'New Orleans.' If you 
wdl take up the riot at New Orleans, and trace it back to its 
source or its immediate cause, you will find out who is respon- 
sible for the blood that was shed there. If you will take up 
the not at New Orleans and trace it back to the radical Con- 
gress, you will find that the riot at New Orleans was substan- 
tially planned. If you will take up the proceedings in their 
caucusses you will understand that they there knew that a con- 
vention was to be called which was extinct by its power having 
expired; that it was said that the intention was that a new 
government was to be organized, and on the organization of 
that government the intention was to enfranchise one portion 
of the population, called the colored population, who had just 
been emancipated, and at the same time disfranchise white men. 
When you design to talk about New Orleans you ought to 
understand what you are talking about. When you read the 
speeches that were made, and take up the facts on the Friday 
and Saturday before the convention sat, you \\\\\ there find 
that speeches were made incendiary In their character, exciting 
that portion of the population, the black population, to arm 
themselves and prepare for the shedding of blood. You will 
also find that the convention did assemble in violation of law, 
and the intention of that convention was to supersede the reor- 
ganized authorities in the State government of Louisiana, 
which had been recognized by the government of the United 
States; and every man engaged in that rebellion in that con- 
vention, with the intent of superseding and upturning the ciyil 
government which had been recognized by the government of 
the United States, I say that he was a traitor to the Constitu- 
)f the United States, and hence you find that another 



tion oi 



468 Documentary History of Reco?istruction 

rebellion was commenced, having its origin in the radical Con- 
gress. . . 

"So much for the New Orleans riot. And there was the 
cause and the origin of the blood that was shed, and every 
drop of blood that was shed is upon their skirts, and they are 
responsible for it. I could test this thing a little closer, but 
will not do It here tonight. But when you talk about the 
causes and consequences that resulted from proceedings of 
that kind, perhaps, as I have been Introduced here, and you 
have provoked questions of this kind, though It does not pro- 
voke me, I will tell you a few wholesome things that have 
been done by this radical Congress In connection with New 
Orleans and the extension of the elective franchise. 

"I know that I have been traduced and abused. I know 
it has come In advance of me here as elsewhere, that I have 
attempted to exercise an arbitrary power In resisting laws that 
were intended to be forced upon the government; that I had 
exercised that power; that I had abandoned the party that 
elected me, and that I was a traitor, because I exercised the 
veto power In attempting, and did arrest for a time, a bill 
that was called a 'Freedman's Bureau' bill; yes, that I was 
a traitor. And I have been traduced, I have been slandered, 
I have been maligned, I have been called Judas Iscarlot, and 
all that. Now, my countrymen, here to-night, It is very easy 
to indulge In epithets; It Is easy to call a man Judas and cry 
out traitor; but when he is called upon to give arguments and 
facts he Is very often found Avantlng. Judas Iscarlot — Judas. 
There was a Judas, and he was one of the twelve apostles. 
Oh ! yes, the twelve apostles had a Christ. The twelve apos- 
tles had a Christ, and he never could have had a Judas unless 
he had had twelve apostles. If I have played the Judas, who 
has been my Christ that I have played the Judas with? Was 
it Thad. Stevens? Was it Wendell Phillips? Was it Charles 
Sumner? These are the men that stop and compare them- 
selves with the Saviour; and everybody that differs with them 
In opinion, and to try to stay and arrest their diabolical and 
nefarious policy, is to be denounced as a Judas. . . 



t! V f .. '"^ "''"'"^' "'"^ >'°"^ '^^'P' ' "I" k^k then o" 
I will kick them out just as fast as I can 

."Let me say to you, in concluding, that what I have said 
I mtended to say. I was not provoked Into this, and 1 ca e 
not tor the.r menaces, the taunts, and the jeers. I care not 
tor threats. I do not intend to he bullied bv mv enemies 
nor overawed by my friends. But, God willing, with vour 
help I will veto their measures when anv of them come to 
me. 

Which said utterances, declarations, threats, and harangues 
highly censurable in any, are peculiarly indecent and unbe' 
coming ni the Chief Magistrate of the United States, by means 
whereof said Andrew Johnson has brought the high office of 
the President of the United States into contempt, ridicule, and 
disgrace, to the great scandal of all good citizens, whereby 
said Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, did com- 
mit, and was then and there guilty of a high misdemeanor in 
office. 

ARTICLE XI 

That said Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, 
unmindful of the high duties of his office, and of his oath 
of office, and in disregard of the Constitution and laws of the 
United States, did, heretofore, to-wit, on the eighteenth day 
of August, A. D. eighteen hundred and sixty-six, at the city 
of Washington, in the District of Columbia, by public speech, 
declare and affirm, in substance, that the thirty-ninth Congress 
of the United States was not a Congress of the United States 
authorized by the Constitution to exercise legislative power 
under the same, but on the contrary, was a Congress of only 
a part of the United States, thereby denying, and intending 
to deny, the power of the said thirty-ninth Congress to propose 
amendments to the Constitution of the United States; and in 
pursuance of said declaration, the said Andrew Johnson. Pres- 
ident of the United States, afterwards, to-wit, on [February 



4-yo Documentary History of Reconstruction 

2 1, 1868] . . at the city of Washington, in the District of 
Columbia, did unlawfully, and in disregard of the require- 
ments of the Constitution, that he should take care that the 
laws be faithfully executed, attempt to prevent the execution 
of [the Tenure of Office Act] . . by unlawfully devising and 
contriving, and attempting to devise and contrive means by 
which he should prevent Edwin M. Stanton from forthwith 
resuming the functions of the office of Secretary for the De- 
partment of War; and, also, by further unlawfully devising 
and contriving, and attempting to devise and contrive means, 
then and there, to prevent the execution of . . [the Army Ap- 
propriation Act and the Reconstruction Act, both of March 
2, 1867] . . whereby the said Andrew Johnson, President of 
the United States, did, then, to-wit, on . . [February 21, 
1868] . . at the city of Washington, commit, and was guilty 
of, a high misdemeanor in office. 

Schuyler Colfax, 
Speaker of the House of Representatives, 
Attest : 

Edward McPherson, 

Clerk of the House of Representatives. 

Charles Sumner's Opinion 

Trial of Andrexo Johnson, vol. iii, pp. 247, 257, 2,5S. Each senator 
was permitted to file a written statement explaining his votes in 
the impeachment trial. Several availed themselves of this priv- 
ilege. Sumner's is the most interesting. [1868] 

This is one of the last great battles with slavery. Driven 
from these legislative chambers, driven from the field of war, 
this monstrous power has found a refuge in the Executive 
Mansion, where, in utter disregard of the Constitution and 
laws, it seeks to exercise its ancient far-reaching sway. . . 
Andrew Johnson is the impersonation of the tyrannical slave 
power. In him it lives again. He is the lineal successor of 
John C. Calhoun and Jefferson Davis; and he gathers about 
him the same supporters. Original partisans of slavery north 
and south; habitual compromisers of great principles; maligners 
of the Declaration of Independence; politicians without heart; 



Impeachment of the President 



lawyers, tor whom a technicality is everything, and a nronm- 
cuous company who at every stage of the battle have s , 

faces against equal rights; these are his allies. It is the olj 
roop of slavery, with a few recruits, ready as of old for vi,> 
lence _ cunnmg m device, and heartless in quibble. With 
the President at their head, they are now entrenched in the 
lixecutive Mansion. 

Not to dislodge them is to leave the country a prev to one 
of the most hateful tyrannies of history. Especially is it to 
surrender the Unionists of the rebel States to yiolence and 
bloodshed. Not a month, not a ^yeek, not a day should he 
lost. The safety of the Republic requires action at once. The 
lives of innocent men must be rescued from sacrifice. 

I would not in this judgment depart from that moderation 
which belongs to the occasion; but God forbid that, when called 
to deal with so great an offender, I should affect a coldness 
which I cannot ittl. Slavery has been our worst enemy, as- 
sailing all, murdering our children, filling our homes with 
mourning, and darkening the land with tragedy; and now it 
rears its crest anew, with Andrew Johnson as its representa- 
tive. Through him it assumes once more to rule the Republic 
and to impose its cruel law. The enormity of his conduct is 
aggravated by his barefaced treachery. He once declared him- 
self the Moses of the colored race. Behold him now the 
Pharaoh. With such treachery in such a cause there can be 
no parley. Every sentiment, every conviction, every vow 
against slavery must now be directed against him. Pharaoh 
is at the bar of the Senate for judgment. . . 

There is nothing of usurpation which he has not attempted. 
Beginning with an assumption of all power in the rebel States, 
he has shrunk from nothing in the maintenance of this unpar- 
alleled assumption. . . Timid at first, he grew bolder and 
bolder. He saw too well that his attempt to substitute him- 
self for Congress in the work of reconstruction was sheer 
usurpation, and therefore, by his Secretary of State, did not 
hesitate to announce that "it must be distinctly understood that 
the restoration will be subject to the decision of Congress." 



472 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

On two separate occasions, in July and September, 1865, he 
confessed the power of Congress over the subject; but when 
Congress came together in December, this confessor of con- 
gressional power found that he alone had this great preroga- 
tive. According to his new-fangled theory. Congress had 
nothing to do but admit the States with the governments which 
had been instituted through his will alone. It is difficult to 
measure the vastness of this usurpation, involving as it did a 
general nullification. Strafford was not bolder, when, speak- 
ing for Charles I., he boasted that "the little finger of pre- 
rogative was heavier than the loins of the law;" but these 
words helped the proud minister to the scaffold. No monarch, 
no despot, no Sultan, could claim more than an American Pres- 
ident; for he claimed all. By his edict alone governments 
were organized, taxes were levied, and even the franchises of 
the citizens were determined. 

Had this assumption of power been incidental, for the 
exigency of the moment, as under the pressure of war, and 
especially to serve the cause of human rights, to which before 
his elevation the President had professed such vociferous devo- 
tion, it might have been pardoned. It would have passed 
into the chapter of unauthorized acts which a patriot people 
had condoned. But it was the opposite in every particular. 
Beginning and continuing in usurpation, it was hateful beyond 
pardon, because it sacrificed the rights of Unionists, white and 
black, and was in the interest of the rebellion and of those 
very rebels who had been in arms against their country. 

More than one person was appointed provisional governor 
who could not take the oath of office required by act of Con- 
gress. Other persons in the same predicament were appointed 
in the revenue service. The effect of these appointments was 
disastrous. They were in the nature of notice to rebels every- 
where, that participation in the rebellion was no bar to office. 
If one of their number could be appointed governor, if another 
could be appointed to a confidential position in the Treasury 
Department, then there was nobody on the long list of blood 
who might not look for preferment. And thus all offices 



'mpeachment of the President ^73 



from governor to constable were handed over to a disloval 
scramble Rebels crawled forth from their retreats nT 
who had hardly ventured to expect their lives were now candi- 
dates for office, and the rebellion became strong again The 
change was felt in all the gradations of government, whether 
m States, counties, towns, or villages. Rebels found them- 
selves m places of trust, while the true-hearted Unionists, who 
had watched for the coming of our flag and ought to have 
enjoyed its protecting power, were driven into hiding-places. 
All this was under the auspices of Andrew Johnson. It was 
he who animated the wicked crew. He was at the head of 
the work. Loyalt}^ everywhere was persecuted. White and 
black, whose only offence was that they had been true to their 
country', were insulted, abused, murdered. There was no 
safety for the loyal man except within the flash of our bay- 
onets. The story is as authentic as hideous. More than two 
thousand murders have been reported in Texas alone since the 
surrender of Kirby Smith. In other States there was a similar 
carnival. Property, person, life, were all in jeopardy. Acts 
were done "to make a holiday in hell." At New Orleans there 
was a fearful massacre, w^hich, considering the age and the 
place, was worse than that of St, Bartholomew, which dark- 
ens a century of France, or that of Glencoe, which has printed 
an ineffaceable stain upon one of the greatest reigns of Eng- 
lish history. All this is directly traced to Andrew Johnson. 
The words of bitterness uttered at another time are justified, 
while Fire, Famine, and Slaughter shriek forth — 



He let me loose, and cried Halloo! 
To him alone the praise is due. 



. . The Freedman's Bureau, that sacred charity of the Re- 
public, was despoiled of its possessions for the sake of rebels, 
to whom their forfeited estates were given back after they had 
been vested by law in the United States. The proceeds of 
captured and abandoned property, lodged under the law in the 
national treasury, were ravished from their place of deposit 
and sacrificed. Rebels were allowed to fill the ante-chambers 
of the Executive Mansion and to enter Into his counsels. he 
pardoning power was prostituted, and pardons were issued m 



474 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

lots to suit rebels, thus grossly abusing that trust whose discreet 
exercise is so essential to the administration of justice. The pow- 
ers of the senate over appointments were trifled with and disre- 
garded by reappointing persons who had been already rejected, 
and by refusing to communicate the names of others appointed 
by him during the recess. The veto power conferred by the 
Constitution as a remedy for ill-considered legislation, was 
turned by him into a weapon of offence against Congress and 
into an instrument to beat down the just opposition which his 
usurpation had aroused. The power of removal, which patriot 
Presidents had exercised so sparingly, was seized as an engine 
of tyranny and openly employed to maintain his wicked pur- 
poses by the sacrifice of good citizens who would not consent to 
be his tools. Incompetent and dishonest creatures, whose only 
recommendation was that they echoed his voice, were appointed 
to office, especially in the collection of the internal revenue, 
through whom a new organization, known as the "Whiskey 
Ring," has been able to prevail over the government and to rob 
the treasury of millions at the cost of tax-paying citizens, whose 
burdens are thus increased. Laws enacted by Congress for the 
benefit of the colored race, including that great statute for the 
establishment of the Freedmen's Bureau, and that other great 
statute for the establishment of Civil Rights were first attacked 
by his veto, and when finally passed by the requisite majority 
over his veto, were treated by him as little better than dead 
letters, while he boldly attempted to prevent the adoption of 
a constitutional amendment, by which the right of citizens and 
the national debt were placed under the guarantee of irrepeal- 
able law. During these successive assumptions, usurpations, 
and tyrannies, utterly without precedent in our history, this 
deeply guilty man ventured upon public speeches, each an 
offence to good morals, where, lost to all shame, he appealed 
in coarse words to the coarse passions of the coarsest people, 
scattering firebrands of sedition, inflaming anew the rebel spirit, 
insulting good citizens and with regard to office-holders, an- 
nouncing in his own characteristic phrase that he would "kick 
them out" — the whole succession of speeches being from their 



Impeachment of the President 



475 



brutalities and indecencies, In the nature of a "criminal exposure 
of his person," Indictable at common law, for whicli n-. ju.i- 
ment can be too severe. But even this revolting trans^rcssio^n 
Is aggravated, when It Is considered that through these utter- 
ances the cause of justice was Imperiled and the accursed demon 
of civil feud was lashed again Into vengeful fury. AH these 
things from beginning to end are plain facts, already reconled 
In history and known to all. And it is further rcconled in 
history and known to all, that, through these enormities, any 
one of which Is enough for condemnation, while all together 
present an aggregation of crime, untold calamities have been 
brought upon our country; disturbing business and fuKince; 
diminishing the national revenues; postponing specie payments; 
dishonoring the Declaration of Independence in its grandest 
truths; arresting the restoration of the rebel States; reviving 
the dying rebellion, and Instead of that peace and reconcilia- 
tion so much longed for, sowing strife and wrong, whose nat- 
ural fruit Is violence and blood. 



READMISSION OF STATES: FOURTEENTH 
AMENDMENT 



Arkansas Readmitted 

Acts and Resolutions, 40 Cong., 2 Sess., p. 43. Passed over the 
veto. [June 22, 1868] 

Whereas the people of Arkansas, in pursuance of the pro- 
visions of an act entitled "An act for the more efficient govern- 
ment of the rebel States," passed March 2, 1867, and the acts 
supplementary thereto, have framed and adopted a constitu- 
tion of State government, which is republican, and the legis- 
lature of said State has duly ratified the amendment to the 
Constitution of the United States proposed by the thirty-ninth 
Congress, and known as Article fourteen; Therefore, 

Be it enacted . . That the State of Arkansas is entitled and 
admitted to representation in Congress, as one of the States of 
the Union, upon the following fundamental condition : That 
the constitution of Arkansas shall never be so amended or 
changed as to deprive any citizen or class of citizens of the 
United States of the right to v^ote who are entitled to vote by 
the constitution herein recognized, except as a punishment for 
such crimes as are now felonies at common law, whereof they 
shall have been duly convicted, under laws equally applicable 
to all inhabitants of said State. 



Six More States Readmitted 

Acts and Resolutions, J/O Cong., 2 Sess., p. 44. Passed over the veto. 
Georgia was soon expelled. In Mississippi, Virginia, and Texas, 
the new constitutions had not been adopted. Alabama was read- 
mitted though the new constitution had been rejected. [June 25, 1868] 

Whereas the people of North Carolina, South Carolina, 

Louisiana, Georgia, Alabama, and Florida have, in pursuance 

of the provisions of an act entitled "An act for the more efficient 

government of the rebel States," passed March 2, 1867, and 

the acts supplementary thereto, framed constitutions of State 

government which are republican, and have adopted said con- 

476 



Readmission of State^ ^J^our^een^^ ^-. 

stituti^ns by large majorities of the votes cast at the elections 
held for the ratification or rejection of the same: therefore 

Be It enacted . . That each of the States of North Carolina 
South Carolma, Louisiana, Georgia, Alabama, and Florida' 
shall be entitled and admitted to representation in Congress as 
a State of the Union when the Legislature of such State 
shall have duly ratified the amendment to the Constitution of 
the United States proposed by the thirty-ninth Congress, and 
known as Article fourteen, upon the following fundamental 
conditions: That the constitution of neither of said States 
shall ever be so amended or changed, as to deprive any citizen 
or class of citizens of the United States of the right to vote in 
said State who are entitled to vote by the constitution thereof 
herein recognized, except as a punishment for such crimes as 
are now felonies at common law, whereof they shall have been 
duly convicted under laws equally applicable to all the in- 
habitants of said State . . and the State of Georgia shall only 
be entitled and admitted to representation upon this further 
fundamental condition; that the first and third subdivisions of 
section seventeen of the fifth article of the constitution of said 
State, except the proviso to the first subdivision, shall be null 
and void, and that the general assembly of said State, by solemn 
public act, shall declare the assent of the State to the forc.ny.mr 
fundamental condition. 

Sec. 2. That if the day fixed for the first meeting of the 
Legislature of either of said States by the constitution or or- 
dinance thereof, shall have passed, or have so nearly arrived 
before the passage of this act that there shall not be time for 
the Legislature to assemble at the period fixed, such legislature 
shall convene at the end of twenty days from the time this 
act takes effect unless the governor-elect shall sooner convene 

the same. 

Sec 3. That the first section of this act shall take eticct as 
to each State, except Georgia, when such State shall by its 
legislature duly ratify Article fourteen of the amendments to 
the Constitution of the United States, proposed by the 1 hirt>- 
Ninth Congress, and as to the State of Georgia when .t shall 



47^ Documentary History of Reconstruction 

in addition give the assent of said State to the fundamental 
condition heretofore imposed upon the same; and thereupon 
the officers of each State, duly elected and qualified under the 
constitution thereof, shall be inaugurated without delay; but 
no person prohibited from holding office under the United 
States or under any State by section three of the proposed 
amendment to the Constitution of the United States known 
as Article fourteen shall be deemed eligible to any office in either 
of said States unless relieved from disability as provided in 
said amendment; and it is hereby made the duty of the Presi- 
dent within ten days after receiving official information of the 
ratification of said amendment by the Legislature of either of 
said States, to issue a proclamation announcing that fact. 

The Fourteenth Amendment 

Acts and Resolutions. 39 Cong.. 1 Sess., p. 406. Joint resolution 
proposing the Amendment passed Congress June 13, 1866, but was 
not sent to the President. It was ratified by the requisite number 
of states and proclaimed. [July 28, 1868] 

Article XIV 
Sec. I. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, 
and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United 
States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall 
make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or 
immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State 
deprive any person of life, liberty or property, without due pro- 
cess of law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the 
equal protection of the laws. 

Sec. 2. Representatives shall be appointed among the 
several States according to their respective numbers, counting 
the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians 
not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the 
choice of electors for President and Vice President of the 
United States, representatives in Congress, the executive and 
judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature 
thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, 
being tvventy-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, 
or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion or 



Readmission of States^ Joru^eenth^^ 

other crime, the basis of representation therein shall ho reduced 
in the proportion which the number of such male citi/cns shall 
bear to the whole number of male citizens t^vcnty-one years of 
age in said State. 

Sec. 3. No Person shall be Senator or Representative in 
Congress, or elector of President or Vice President, or hold any 
office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any 
State, who, having previously taken an oath as a member of 
Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member 
of any State Legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer 
of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, 
shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the 
same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But 
Congress may, by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove 
such disability. 

Sec. 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, 
authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of 
pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or 
rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United 
States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation 
incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United 
States or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; 
but all such debts, obligations, and claims shall be held illegal 
and void. 

Sec. 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by 
appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article. 



8. RECONSTRUCTION THE ISSUE IN THE 
CAMPAIGN OF 1868 



The Republican Platform on Reconstruction 

McPherson, History of Reconstruction, p. 364. [May 21, 1868] 

I. We congratulate the country on the assured success of the 
reconstruction policy of Congress, as evinced by the adoption, 
in the majority of the States lately in rebellion, of Constitutions 
securing equal civil and political rights to all; and it is the duty 
of the Government to sustain those institutions and to prevent 
the people of such States from being remitted to a state of 
anarchy. 

2, The guaranty by Congress of equal suffrage to all the 
loyal men at the South was demanded by every consideration of 
public safety, of gratitude, and of justice, and must be main- 
tained; while the question of suffrage in all the loyal States 
properly belongs to the people of those States. . . 

8. We profoundly deplore the untimely and tragic death of 
Abraham Lincoln, and regret the accession to the Presidency of 
Andrew Johnson, who has acted treacherously to the people 
who elected him and the cause he was pledged to support; who 
has usurped high legislative and judicial functions; who has 
refused to execute the laws; who has used his high oflice to in- 
duce other officers to ignore and violate the laws; who has em- 
ployed his executive powers to render insecure the property, the 
peace, liberty, and life, of the citizen; who has abused the par- 
doning power; who has denounced the national legislature as 
unconstitutional; who has persistently and corruptly resisted, by 
every means in his power, every proper attempt at the recon- 
struction of the States lately in rebellion ; who has perverted the 
public patronage into an engine of wholesale corruption; and 
who has been justly impeached for high crimes and mis- 
demeanors, and properly pronounced guilty thereof by the vote 
of thirty-five Senators. . . 

13. That w^e highly recommend the spirit of magnanimity 
and forbearance with which men who have served in the re- 

480 



bellion but who now frankly and honestly cooperate with us 
m restoring the peace of the country and reconstructing th 
sou.hern State governments upon the basis of impartial iustic 
and equal rights are received back into the communion of the 
Joyal people; and we favor the removal of the disqualifications 
and restrictions imposed upon the late rebels in the same meas- 
ure as the spirit of disloyalty shall die out, and as may be con- 
sistent with the safety of the loyal people. 

The Democratic Platform on Reconstruction 

McPherson, History of Reconstruction, p. 367. [Jnly, 1868] 

The Democratic Party . . standing upon the Constitution as 
the foundation and limitation of the powers of the Govern- 
ment, and the guarantee of the liberties of the citizen, and 
recognizing the questions of slavery and secession as having 
been settled . . by the war or the voluntary action of Southern 
States in constitutional convention assembled, and never to be 
renewed or to be reagitated, do with the return of peace, de- 
mand: 

First — Immediate restoration of all the States to their rights 
in the Union under the Constitution, and of civil government 
to the American people. 

Second — Amnesty for all past political offenses, and the 
regulation of the elective franchise in the States by their 
citizens. . . 

In demanding these measures and reforms, we arraign the 
Radical party for its disregard of right, and the unparalleled 
oppression and tyranny which have marked its career. 

After the most solemn and unanimous pledge of both Houses 
of Congress to prosecute the war exclusively for the main- 
tenance of the Government and the preservation of the l^nion 
under the Constitution, it has repeatedly violated that most 
sacred pledge. . . Instead of restoring the Union, it has, so 
far as in its power, dissolved it, and subjected ten States, 
in time of profound peace, to military despotism and negro 
supremacy. It has nullified there the right of trial by jur)-; it 
has abolished the habeas corpus, that most sacred writ of 



482 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

liberty; it has ov^erthrown the freedom of speech and the press; 
it has substituted arbitrary seizures and arrests, and military 
trials and secret star-chamber inquisitions for the constitutional 
tribunals; it has disregarded in time of peace the rights of the 
people to be free from searches and seizures; it has entered 
the post and telegraph offices, and even the private rooms of in- 
dividuals, and seized their private papers and letters without any 
specific charge or notice of affidavit, as required by the organic 
law; it has converted the American Capitol into a bastile; it 
has established a system of spies and official espionage to which 
no constitutional monarchy of Europe would now dare to re- 
sort; it has abolished the right of appeal on important consti- 
tutional questions to the supreme judicial tribunals, and threat- 
ens to curtail or destroy its original jurisdiction, which is irre- 
vocably vested by the Constitution, while the learned Chief 
Justice has been subjected to the most atrocious calumnies, 
merely because he would not prostitute his high office to the 
support of the false and partisan charges preferred against the 
President. Its corruption and extravagance have exceeded any- 
thing known in history, and, by its frauds and monopolies, it 
has nearly doubled the burden of the debt created by the war. It 
has stripped the President of his constitutional power of ap- 
pointment, even of his own cabinet. . . 

And we do declare and resolve that ever since the people of 
the United States threw off all subjection to the British Crown 
the privilege and trust of suffrage have belonged to the several 
States, and have been granted, regulated and controlled exclu- 
sively by the political power of each State respectively, and that 
any attempt by Congress, on any pretext whatever, to deprive 
any State of this right, or to interfere with its exercise, is a fla- 
grant usurpation of power which can find no warrant in the 
Constitution, and, if sanctioned by the people, will subvert our 
form of government, and can only end in a centralized and con- 
solidated government, in which the separate existence of the 
States will be entirely absorbed, and an unqualified despotism 
be established in place of a Federal Union of co-equal States. 
And that we regard the reconstruction acts (so-called) of 



Congress, as such as usurpations aud unconstitutional, rcvo- 
lutionarv, and void. 



Views of F. P. Blair 

Annual Cyclopedia. 1868. p. 75-^ Blair w^^ n^.„ 
date for the vice-presidency and" bv hs freedom nf?,?'^',' '^"'^'■ 
rassed his party. The rea'l issuXll^lZ'^ZVlVftJ^^'tv 
Should the Reconstruction be completed or rejected? [1868] 

The issues upon which the contest turns are clear, and cannot 
be obscured or distorted by the sophistries of our adversaries. 
They all resolve themselves into the old and ever-renewing 
struggle of a few men to absorb the political power of the 
nation. This effort, under every conceivable name and dis- 
guise, has always characterized the opponents of the Demo- 
cratic party, but at no time has the attempt assumed a shape 
so open and daring as in this contest. The adversaries of free 
and constitutional government, in defiance of the expressed 
language of the Constitution, have erected a military despotism 
in ten of the States of the Union, have taken from the Presi- 
dent the powers vested in him by the supreme law, and have de- 
prived the Supreme Court of its jurisdiction. The right of trial 
by jury, and the great writ of right, — the liaheas-corpu." — 
shields of safety for every citizen, and which have de.scendcd to 
us from the earliest transitions of our ancestors, and which our 
Revolutionary fathers sought to secure to their posterity for- 
ever in the fundamental charter of our liberties — have been 
ruthlessly trampled under foot by the fragment of a Congress. 
Whole States and communities of people of our own race have 
been attainted, convicted, condemned, and deprived of their 
rights as citizens, without presentment, or trial, or witnesses, hut 
by congressional enactment of ex post facto laws, and in defiance 
of the constitutional prohibition denying even to a full and legal 
Congress the authority to pass any bill of attainder, or ex post 
facto law. The same usurping authority has substituted as 
electors in the place of the men of our own race, thus illegally 
attainted and disfranchised, a host of ignorant negroes, who arc 
supported in idleness with the public money, and combined to- 
gether to strip the white race of their birthright, through the 



484 Documentary History of Reconstruction 



management of Freedmen's Bureaus and the emissaries of con- 
spirators in other States; and, to complete the oppression, the 
military power of the nation has been placed at their disposal, 
in order to make this barbarism supreme. 

The military leader under whose prestige this usurping Con- 
gress has taken refuge since the condemnation of their schemes 
by the free people of the North in the elections of the last year, 
and whom they have selected as their candidate to shield them- 
selves from the result of their ow^n wickedness and crime, has 
announced his acceptance of the nomination, and his willingness 
to maintain their usurpations over eight millions of people at 
the South, fixed to the earth with his bayonets. He exclaims : 
"Let us have peace." "Peace reigns in Warsaw" was the an- 
nouncement which heralded the doom of the liberties of the 
nation. "The empire is peace," exclaimed Bonaparte, when 
freedom and its defenders expired under the sharp edge of his 
sword. The peace to which Grant invites us is the peace of 
despotism and death. 



The Issue in the South 

Annual Cyclopedia, 1S68, p. 432. Resolutions adopted by the Demo- 
cratic State Central Committee of Louisiana. [March 6, 1868] 

JFhereas, The people of Louisiana are immediately threatened 
with the consummation of a policy involving their degradation 
and ruin, promising the destruction of their material interests, 
intending the overthrow of all constitutional safeguards, aiming 
at the perversion of every social, educational, and governmental 
institution, and obliterating every vestige of American civil- 
ization in this State, for the notorious purpose of recuperating 
the waning fortunes and maintaining the supremacy of a dis- 
trusted, ambitious, and vindictive party; and 

Whereas, It is the duty of every citizen to lend his energy 
and influence to every effort, and his voice to every protest 
against the imminent consummation of a scheme so audacious, 
revolutionary, and destructive, the incipient consequences of 
which have been beggary, wretchedness, and starvation, and 
the fomenting of bitter animiosities, and the matured results of 



which will be debasing desDotism nr iv .• 

graceful to ..e .o^n^^^rizz, '^T^::::^; :: 

pie who endure it : therefore be it ^ 

Resolved, That we invite all conservative citizens, regardless 
o past poh.cal attachments or differences, to unl e fith h 
South"! """'" '"''' ''' '^' ^'''' '-^"^ ^^--^'hout the 
We will unite with the national Democratic partv in anv 
policy which may be adopted to preserve the threatened in- 
tegrity of the Executive and Judicial Departments of the 
Government, and to counteract the designs of a relentless and 
tyrannical party to subvert the Constitution and to convert our 
republican and democratic institutions into a centralized des- 
potism erected on the ruins of public liberty, personal rights, 
and the sovereignty of the States. 



Southern Whites to the Negroes 

J. S. Reynolds, Reconstruction in South Carolina, p. 90 Demo- 
cratic "Address to the Colored People of South Carolina." [1S6S] 

Your present power must soon pass from you. Nothing that 
It builds will stand and nothing will remain of it but the pre- 
judices it may create. It is therefore a most dangerous tool that 
you are handling. Your leaders, both black and white, are 
using your votes for nothing but their individual gain. Many of 
them you ha\'e only known heretofore to despise and distrust, 
until commanded by your Leagues to vote for them. Offices 
and salaries for themselves are the heights of their ambition. 
. . Already they have driven away all capital and credit from 
the South; and . . thousands among you are thrown out of 
employment and starve simply for lack of work. What few 
enterprises are carried on are the work of Southern men who 
have faith that the present state of affairs is but temporary. . . 
We therefore urge and warn you, by all the ties of our 
former relations still strong and binding In thousands of cases, 
by a common Christianity and by the mutual welfare of our 
two races, whom Providence has thrown together, to beware 



486 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

of the course on which your leaders are urging you in a blind 
folly which will surely ruin both you and them. 

We do not pretend to be better friends to your race than we 
are to ourselves, and we only speak when we are not invited be- 
cause your welfare concerns ours. If you destroy yourselves you 
injure us, and though but little as compared to the harm you 
will do yourselves we would if we could avert the whole danger. 

We are not in any condition to make to you any promises or 
to propose to you any compromises. We can do nothing but 
await the course of events — but this we do without the slight- 
est apprehension or misgiving for ourselves. We shall not 
give up our country, and time will soon restore our control of 
it. But we earnestly caution you and beg you in the mean- 
while to beware of the use you make of your temporary power. 
Remember that your race has nothing to gain and everything 
to lose if you invoke that prejudice of race which since the 
world was made has ever driven the weaker tribe to the wall. 
Forsake, then, the wicked and stupid men who would involve 
you in this folly, and make to yourselves friends and not enemies 
of the white citizens of South Carolina. 



9. RECONSTRUCTION COMPLETED 



Republican Converts in Virginia 

Talbot, S. C. Armstrong, p. 144. Letter of S. C Armstrone on th^ 
political situation Armstrong was then at work at Hampton 
This extract is used by permission of Mrs. Talbot and of DouMe: 
day, Page and Co. [1S691 

Republicans are increasing [in Virginia]since the election of 
Grant, and several southern gentlemen about here arc much 
more radical than L "When the devil was sick the devil a 
monk would be; when the devil was well the devil a monk was 
he." Scores are getting down oft the fence and are rushing 
wildly to the Republican lines and already begin to talk of what 
they have suffered for their principles. I was buttonholed this 
evening by a devoted radical lately converted, Avho has con- 
fidential talks with darkies "behind houses and around corners" 
and was bored with an address upon "the party," — its prin- 
ciples and its meanest men, swallowed without a gulp — without 
a wink. They are good, noble dogs and "yaller" mean dogs. 
So there are yellow dogs, humanly speaking, who roll over on 
their backs figuratively and wag their tails at the rulers of the 
hour. 

New Constitutions of Virginia, Mississippi, and Texas 

.statutes at Large, vol. xvi, p. 40. In Mississippi the Con^tij"- 
tion had been rejected. [April 10, 1869] 

Be it enacted . . That the President of the United States, at 
such time as he may deem best for the public interest, may sub- 
mit the constitution which was framed by the convention which 
met in Richmond, Virginia, on Tuesday, the third day of De- 
cember, [1867,] to the voters of said State, registered at the 
date of said submission, for ratification or rejection, and may 
also submit to a separate vote such provisions of said constitu- 
tion as he may deem best, such vote to be taken either upon 
each of the said provisions alone, or in connection with the 
other portions of said constitution, as the ^^^^^'f ^^. "^^j; ';^'' 
Sec. 2. . . At the same election the voters of said State may 

487 



488 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

vote for and elect members of the General Assembly of said 
State, and all the officers of said State provided for by said con- 
stitution, and members of Congress; and the officer commanding 
the district of Virginia shall cause the lists of registered voters 
of said State to be revised, enlarged, and corrected prior to 
such election, according to law, and for that purpose may ap- 
point such registrars as he may deem necessary. And said 
elections shall be held, and returns thereof made In the manner 
provided by the acts of Congress commonly called the recon- 
struction acts. 

Sees. 3 and 4. . . [Similar procedure authorized for Texas 
and Mississippi.] 

Sec. 5. . . If either of the said constitutions shall be rati- 
fied at such election, the legislature of the State so ratifying, 
elected as provided for In this act, shall assemble at the capital 
of said State on the fourth Tuesday after the official promul- 
gation of such ratification by the mllltar)^ officer commanding 
In said State. 

Sec. 6. . . Before the States of Virginia, Mississippi, and 
Texas shall be admitted to representation in Congress, their 
several legislatures, which may be hereafter lawfully organized, 
shall ratify the fifteenth article which has been proposed by 
Congress to the several States as an amendment to the Consti- 
tution of the United States. 

Sec. 7. . • The proceedings In any of the said States shall 
not be deemed final or operate as a complete restoration there- 
of, until their action respectively, shall be approved by 
Congress. 

Virginia Readmitted 

statutes at Large, vol. svi, p. 62. Mississippi was readmitted on 
February 23, and Texas on March 30, 1870. The organization of the 
militia in these states was still prohibited however. 

[January 26, 1870] 

Whereas the people of Virginia have framed and adopted 
a constitution of State government which Is republican; and 
whereas the Legislature of Virginia elected under said consti- 
tution have ratified the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments to 
the Constitution of the United States; and whereas the perform- 



Reconstruction Completed .gg 



ance of these several acts In good faith was a condition pre 
cedent to the representation of the State In Congress- Therefore 
Be it enacted, . . That the said State of Virginia is entitled 
to representation in Congress of the United States: Provided 
That before any member of the legislature of said State shall 
take or resume his seat, or any officer of said State shall enter 
upon the duties of his office, he shall take and subscribe, and file 
in the office of the Secretary of State of Virginia, for permanent 

preservation, an oath in the form following: "I, 

do solemnly swear that I have never taken an oath as a member 
of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a mem- 
ber of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer 
of any State, to support the constitution of the United States, 
and afterwards engaged in Insurrection or rebellion against the 
same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof; so help 
me God;" or such person shall In like manner take, subscribe, 

and file the following oath : "I, do solemnly swear 

that I have by act of Congress of the United States been re- 
lieved from the disabilities Imposed upon me by the fourteenth 
Amendment of the Constitution of the United States; so help 
me God." . . And any person who shall knowingly swear 
falsely In taking either of such oaths shall be deemed guilty of 
perjury, and shall be punished therefor by imprisonment not 
less than one year and not more than ten years, and shall be 
fined not less than one thousand dollars and not more than ten 
thousand dollars. . . And provided further, That every such 
person who shall neglect for the period of thirty days next after 
the passage of this act to take, subscribe, and f^le such oath as 
aforesaid, shall be deemed and taken to all Intents and pur- 
poses, to have vacated his office : And provided further, 1 hat 
the State of Virginia Is admitted to representation m Congress 
as one of the States of the Union upon the following funda- 
mental conditions: First, That the constitution of \ .rgm.a 
shall never be so amended or changed as to deprive any citizen 
or class of citizens of the United States of the right to vote who 
are entitled to vote by the constitution herein recognized, excq.t 
as a punishment for such crimes as are now felonies at common 



490 Documentary History of Reconstruction 

law, whereof they shall have been duly convicted under laws 
equally applicable to all the inhabitants of said State: Pro- 
vided, That any alteration of said constitution, prospective in 
its effects, may be made in regard to the time and place of 
residence of voters. Second, That it shall never be lawful for 
the said State to deprive any citizen of the United States, on 
account of his race, color or previous condition of servitude, of 
the right to hold office under the constitution and laws of said 
State, or upon any such ground to require of him any other 
qualifications for office than such as are required of all other citi- 
zens. Third, That the constitution of Virginia shall never be 
so amended or changed as to deprive any citizen or class of 
citizens of the United States of the school rights and privileges 
secured by the constitution of said State. 

Georgia Reconstructed a Second Time 

Acts and Resolutions, 'fO Cong., 2 Sess., p. 3. The Georgia legisla- 
ture elected under the Reconstruction acts unseated the negro mem- 
bers. President Grant sent a message to Congress recommending 
drastic legislation. This act was the response. The state was 
readmitted July 15, 1870. [December 22, 1869] 

Be it enacted . . That the governor of the State of Georgia 
be, and hereby is, authorized and directed forthwith, by procla- 
mation, to summon all persons elected to the general assembly 
of said State, as appears by the proclamation of George D. 
Meade, the general commanding the military district including 
the State of Georgia, dated June 25, 1868, to appear on some 
day certain to be named in said proclamation, at Atlanta, in 
said State; and thereupon, the said General Assembly of said 
State shall proceed to perfect its organization in conformity 
with the Constitution and laws of the United States according 
to the provisions of this act. 

Sec. 2. . . That when the members so elected to said senate 
and house of representatives shall be convened as aforesaid, 
each and every member and each and every person claiming to 
be elected as a member of said senate or house of representatives 
shall, in addition to taking the oath or oaths required by the 
constitution of Georgia also take and subscribe and file in the 
office of the secretary of state of the state of Georgia, one of 



Reconstruction Completed 



491 

the following oaths or affirmations, namely: 'i do solemnly 
swear (or affirm, as the case may be) that I have never hcKl 
the office or exercised the duties of a senator or a representative 
in Congress, nor been a member of the legislature of any State 
of the United States, nor held any civil office created by law, 
for the administering of any general law of a State, or for the 
administration of justice in any State, or under the laws of the 
United States, nor held any office in the military or naval ser- 
vice of the United States, and thereafter engaged in insurrec- 
tion or rebellion against the United States, or gave aid or com- 
fort to its enemies, or rendered, except in consequence of direct 
physical force, any support or aid to any insurrection or re- 
bellion against the United States, or held any office under, 
or given any support to, any government of any kind organized 
or acting in hostility to the United States, or levying war against 
the United States. So help me God, (or on the pains and 
penalties of perjury, as the case may be)." Or the following 
oath or affirmation, namely: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm, 
as the case may be) that I have been relieved by an act of the 
Congress of the United States from disability as provided for 
by section three of the fourteenth amendment of the Constitu- 
tion of the United States. So help me God, (or on the pains 
and penalties of perjury as the case may be)." . . And every 
person, claiming to be so elected, who shall refuse or decline or 
neglect or be unable to take one of the said oaths or affirmations 
above provided, shall not be admitted to a seat in said senate or 
house of representatives, or to a participation in the proceed- 
ings thereof, but shall be deemed ineligible to such seats. 

*Sec. 3. . . If any person, claiming to be elected to said 
senate or house of representatives, as aforesaid, shall falsely 
take either of said oaths or affirmations as above provided, he 
shall be deemed guilty of perjury, and shall suffer the pains 
and penalties thereof, and may be tried, convicted, and pun- 
ished therefor by the circuit court of the United States tor the 
district of Georgia in which district said crime was committed, 
and the jurisdiction of said court shall be sole and exclusive 
for the purpose aforesaid. 



492 Documentary History of Reconstruction 



Sec. 4. . . The persons elected, as aforesaid, and entitled 
to compose the said legislature, and who shall comply with the 
provisions of this act by taking one of the oaths or affirmations 
above prescribed, shall thereupon proceed, in said senate and 
house of representatives to which they have been elected re- 
spectively, to reorganize said senate and house of representa- 
tives, respectively, by the election and qualification of the 
proper officers of each house. 

Sec. 5. . . If any person shall by force, violence, or fraud, 
wilfully hinder or interrupt any person or persons elected as 
aforesaid from taking either of the oaths or affirmations pre- 
scribed by the act, or from participating in the proceeding of 
said senate or house of representatives, after having taken one 
of said oaths or affirmations and otherwise complied with this 
act, he shall be deemed guilty of a felony, and may be tried, 
convicted, and punished therefor, by the circuit or district court 
of the United States for the district of Georgia, in which 
district said offense shall be committed, and shall be punished 
therefor by imprisonment at hard labor for not less than two 
nor more than ten years, in the discretion of the court, and the 
jurisdiction of said courts shall be sole and exclusive for the 
purpose aforesaid. 

Sec. 6. . . It is hereby declared that the exclusion of any 
person or persons elected as aforesaid, and being otherwise 
qualified, from participation in the proceedings of said senate 
or house of representatives, upon the ground of race, color, or 
previous condition of servitude, would be illegal and revolu- 
tionary, and is hereby prohibited. 

Sec. 7. . . Upon the application of the governor of Geor- 
gia, the President of the United States shall employ such mili- 
tary or naval forces of the United States as may be necessary 
to enforce and execute the preceding provisions of this act. 

Sec. 8. . . The legislature shall ratify the fifteenth amend- 
ment proposed, to the Constitution of the United States before 
senators and representatives from Georgia are admitted to seats 
in Congress. 



Reconstruction Completed 



493 



The Fifteenth Amendment 

statutes at Large, vol. xvi, p. 1131. [March 30, 1870] 

Article XV 
Sec. I. The right of the citizens of the United States to vote 
shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any 
State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servi- 
tude. 

Sec. 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this 
article by appropriate legislation. 






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